Abstract
Good communication between general practitioners (GPs) and psychiatrists is important. An audit of new patient referral letters from GPs and the first assessment letter in reply from psychiatrists found that GP letters were short (mean 106 words) with limited information which increased with letter length. Psychiatrist's letters were longer (mean 849 words), of a high quality but with a negative relationship between length and information score. Use of the ‘preferred’ format derived from previous research was associated with shorter letters of higher quality. Communication between GPs and psychiatrists might be improved if GPs wrote more and psychiatrists wrote less.
Highlights
Good communication between general practitioners (GPs) and psychiatrists is important
Good communication promotes effective patient management and the clinical letter remains central to this process, especially in GP referrals for out-patient assessment
We carried out a local audit of new referral letters by GPs and the consequent psychiatric assessment letter in reply, to investigate any differences between training grades and to identify areas for improvement
Summary
Communication between GPs and psychiatrists: the long and short of it Andrew Blakey, Jessica Morgan and Ian Anderson. An audit of new patient reterral letters from GPsand the first assessment letter in reply from psychiatrists found that GP letters were short (mean 106 words) with limited information which increased with letter length. Williams & Wallace (id1e9n7t4if)y use"dkeya suitrevmeys" ofwGhPicshandeapchsychfiealttristtso btoe important elements in an effective communica tion from the other, from which they constructed a simple rating scale to measure the quality of such letters. This methodology was developed further (Yellowlees & Pullen 1984: Pullen & Yellowlees, 1985) to include an assessment of btroistht's threepolretn, gtwhhilaendalstoheidefonrtmifyaitngoffitvhee kpesyycitheima s for each type of letter which were almost identical to those previously established. We carried out a local audit of new referral letters by GPs and the consequent psychiatric assessment letter in reply, to investigate any differences between training grades and to identify areas for improvement
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
