Home from hospital: a survey of hospital discharge arrangements in Northamptonshire

Maternity services and the discharge process: A review of practice in Queensland

“…Scant attention has been given to defining the content of high quality discharge summaries. Three studies (Balla & Jamieson, 1994;Meara et al, 1992;van Walraven & Rokosh, 1999) make recommendations about discharge summary content relevant to general hospital admissions, while a fourth study's focus (Coleman, 2003) is on geriatric care. The valued content of discharge summaries in these studies related to diagnosis, examinations and test results, complications, medications and ongoing medical care needs.…”

“…Nonetheless, the value of psychosocial information is evident, both in discharge from general hospital care and maternity care. Meara et al (1992) found that GPs sought the inclusion of more information about patient's social, not just medical, needs. Similarly, van Walraven and Rokosh (1999) identified the value of information about the patient's ongoing social needs and Kripalani et al (2007) raised concerns over the frequent omission of information related to patient or family counselling.…”