Abstract
Laboratory request forms provide information about the laboratory test being requested for. They carry demographic data and other information such as location of patient, laboratory number, doctor's name, signature of the doctor, telephone number of the requesting doctor. Omission of information on the forms may lead to laboratory errors. The aim of this study was to evaluate the level of completion of laboratory request forms at the haematology department of a Ghanaian tertiary hospital. Three thousand request forms submitted to the haematology department between January and April 2010 were retrieved and studied. The information provided on each request form was recorded in a spread sheet and analyzed. The patient's age and sex were missing in 25.6% and 32.7% of the forms respectively. About half of the request forms did not have the patient's location. No clinical detail was provided on 22.7% of the forms. Doctors were more likely to sign their request forms and provide a name but they all failed to provide an address or a contact telephone number. This study demonstrates that, the standard of completion of request forms was poor. Essential information required on the forms was often missing. This can lead to limited advice given by laboratory physicians and may increase the potential for errors. Conversely, provision of all the information needed on the forms will aid laboratory diagnosis and enhance patient care and save time and resources. There should be closer interaction between clinicians and laboratory personnel to improve quality of services.
Highlights
Laboratory request forms provide information about the laboratory test being requested for
In the Hospital we studied, laboratory request forms are filled by doctors and presented to the laboratory
77.3 % of the request forms evaluated contained the clinical details of the patient
Summary
Laboratory request forms provide information about the laboratory test being requested for. The aim of this study was to evaluate the level of completion of laboratory request forms at the haematology department of a Ghanaian tertiary hospital. Essential information required on the forms was often missing This can lead to limited advice given by laboratory physicians and may increase the potential for errors. Audit has been defined as a quality improvement process that seeks to improve patient care and outcomes through systematic review of care against explicit criteria and the implementation of change [1]. It is a part of continuous quality improvement process and a key element of clinical governance. Evaluation of laboratory request forms is a pre-analytical audit. It has been demonstrated that laboratory results influence up to 70% of medical diagnoses [5]
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