Evaluation of Immediate Discharge Documents — Room for Improvement?

Background: The Immediate Discharge Document is a tool used to communicate patient discharge information between hospitals and general practitioners. The standard of information provided may be variable, and sometimes delayed in arriving at the GP practice. Typed communication from the hospital can also be slow. This can result in difficulty managing patients in the community following their discharge. Our aim was to assess the quantity of information provided on Immediate Discharge Documents, and to assess the time scale taken for GPs to receive written communications from hospitals regarding patient discharges.An audit was initiated using a tool devised from Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network Publication no 5 and involving four general practices within City of Perth, Scotland. Data was collected over a 28-day period in June/July 2001, by examining Immediate Discharge Documents relevant to each practice population received during this period, and by noting the time of arrival of a final typed su...