The Usefulness of Patients Receiving Their Own Letter After an Outpatient Attendance

As part of the NHS plan it has been proposed to extend some consultants' usual practices and to send all patients copies of the letters sent to their general practitioners following outpatient consultations. The current Secretary of State for Health has further extended this proposal and suggested that patients should have a specific letter to themselves after a hospital consultation.

The aim of this study is to send patients both a copy of the letter sent to their GPs and a specific letter to themselves and to assess the usefulness and comprehensibility of each. This study will assess the two styles of letter in Cardiology and Respiratory Outpatient Clinics staffed by 7 consultants and will involve a group of 15-20 patients from each of the clinics, total number approximately 150 patients.

All patients attending the clinics will be given a sheet outlining the study before their consultations. If they are interested in the study, patients will be given a Patient Information Sheet and asked consent to take part. The length of each of the two dictated letters will be recorded. To avoid costs to the NHS, the direct to patient letters will be typed at the study investigators' cost. Two copies of each letter, a short explanatory letter and a questionnaire will be sent to the patient and the patient will be asked to circle points in each of the letters which are unclear and return them to the department. At the end of the study the general practitioners will be contacted and asked their views about the two letters.

Inclusion criteria

• All patients attending respiratory/cardiology outpatient clinics

Exclusion criteria

• Patients with reading/language difficulties