Investigating Processing of Discharge Summaries in General Practice
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Information flow in General Practice: investigating the processing of discharge summaries to improve patient safety
IRAS ID
140043
Contact name
Tony Avery
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Nottingham
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Discharge summaries are a crucial document for patient safety in the care transition process from secondary to primary care. Care transitions have been shown to be a risky time for patients, with respect to medication errors, risk of re-admission and missed opportunities for follow-up. This is particularly true for elderly patients, especially those with cognitive impairment or lack of social support. Despite much investment by secondary care in improving the discharge summary, the way in which GP surgeries handle discharge summaries has been very little studied. This project attempts to understand the systems in place for processing discharge summaries in primary care and to estimate a rate of error for compliance with actions requested by secondary care. It also hopes to shed light on why these processes (which have been demonstrated to be imperfect in a small pilot by the author) might not be safe 100% of the time.
This PhD study will involve the co-investigator (RS), who is also an NHS employed academic GP, working alone to collect data in GP surgeries. Quantitative data will be obtained by looking at a sample of 300 medical records of patients aged 75 and older who have been discharged from an emergency hospital admission episode. Ten practices from the Nottingham, Coventry and Manchester areas with varying characteristics will be recruited. Volunteering practices will also have their administrative systems mapped and this will be discussed with key members of those practices in twenty one to one interviews. Qualitative data from field notes and interviews will be analyzed alongside the quantitative data to form an epidemiological picture of how English general practice performs in relation to the safe handling of discharge summaries.
This project has relevance for patients and the public as it revolves around the safety of this commonly occurring aspect of primary care.REC name
West Midlands - Coventry & Warwickshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/WM/0442
Date of REC Opinion
7 Dec 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion