AB156. SOH21AS129. Do surgical department discharge letters meet the HIQA national standard?

Abstract

Background: High quality health care is information reliant. Access to high quality and current information in a timely manner is imperative in the provision of quality patient care. A national standard for discharge summaries has been developed by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA). A standard for surgical discharge letters is needed to avoid patient readmission, unnecessary presentation to primary care and to ensure high quality continuity of care in the community. The aim is to assess the quality of surgical discharge summaries at the University Hospital Limerick using the HIQA national Standard. To implement quality improvement strategies recommended by current research. To reassess the quality and close the audit loop.