Letters

Govender, Romona Devi; Klop, A C

doi:10.1080/20786204.2009.10873836

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 2 publications

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“…7 Frustration with a lack of feedback from referral hospitals is a recurring theme in South African primary care. 8,9 Reasons for not replying have been explored and include: lack of time and high workload, patient is deferred or does not bring the referral letter, there are no specific instructions necessary for primary care, there is no incentive for the specialist to reply as might be the case in the private sector, the referral letter is poor or illegible, the referral was unnecessary, the specialist does not think the primary care providers will understand their feedback, the specialist is going to take over management of the condition, and the reply letter will not reach the clinic anyway. Other studies, however, have shown the value of feedback in terms of improving continuity of care for the patient and capacity building of primary care providers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The quality of feedback from outpatient departments at referral hospitals to the primary care providers in the Western Cape: a descriptive survey

et al. 2019

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Background: Coordinating care for patients is a key characteristic of effective primary care. Family physicians in the Western Cape formed a research network to enable them to perform practical research on key questions from clinical practice. The initial question selected by the network focused on evaluating the quality of referrals to and feedback from outpatient departments at referral hospitals to primary care providers in the Western Cape.Methods: A descriptive survey combined quantitative data collected from the medical records with quantitative and qualitative data collected from the patients by questionnaire. Family physicians collected data on consecutive patients who had attended outpatient appointments in the last three months. Data were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences.Results: Seven family physicians submitted data on 141 patients (41% male, 59% female; 46% metropolitan, 54% rural). Referrals were to district (18%), regional (28%) and tertiary hospitals (51%). Referral letters were predominantly biomedical. Written feedback was available in 39% of patients. In 32% of patients, doctors spent time obtaining feedback; the patient was the main source of information in 53% of cases, although many patients did not know what the hospital doctor thought was wrong (36%). The quality of referrals differed significantly by district and type of practitioner, while feedback differed significantly by level of hospital.Conclusion: Primary care providers did not obtain reliable feedback on specialist consultations at referral hospital outpatients. Attention must be given to barriers to care as well as communication, coordination and relationships across the primary–secondary interface.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%