The implementation of the NHS Plan means that patients now have the rights to request copies of any communication that occurs between their clinician and referrer.

The Department of Health has identified the following potential benefits:

• More trust between patients and clinicians, reducing potential anxiety and increasing compliance
• Patients and carers have a better understanding of their condition
• Patients are more informed and more able to make decisions about treatment options in a clinical setting or at home
• More accurate demographic records

A 2007 study found that as a result of receiving their clinical letters, 84% of patients reported feeling more informed, 53% felt there was improvement in communication, 66% reported greater trust in services and 31% reported more commitment to services.

What exactly are patients entitled to?

If patients elect to receive copies of their letters, they must be provided with copies of all letters distributed from Trust clinicians and healthcare professionals to their GP, external clinicians or agencies following any assessment or contact. If the standard letter format is not suitable, tape recording, large print or alternative languages can be requested by the patient, although this is not mandatory.

How will patients request this service?

Patients may complete a Consent form outlining their requirements and contact details which is submitted to the administrative team for processing. Typically, a wait time of six weeks will be advised, giving administrators time to compile and send the letters by post.

What are the current problems?

Compiling patient documentation may require significant amounts of administrative overhead if staff need to pull paper records out from a large storage system and sift through to find only the relevant information.

If a patient journey includes large amounts of correspondence, considerable scanning and printing costs could be incurred, along with the additional costs of envelopes and postage.

As with all postal correspondence, there is always the risk of misdirected or misplaced letters which may potentially breach confidentiality. Long waits by patients for letters may also have a negative impact on their overall experience.

An addition, clinicians may have considerable anxiety about the quality of their communications when viewed by a patient.

What is the solution?

One method that Trusts could consider is the implementation of an Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system which manages the provision of care and all documentation electronically from Referral through to Discharge. All letters, clinical notes, assessments and discharge summaries are held in the central Patient Summary and are accessible by all administrators, clinicians and managers.

All documentation created on Therapy Manager is time and date stamped against the clinician and set to protected “Read only” status after midnight, ensuring high-quality, legible and HPC-compliant information.

Patient demographics can be pulled through instantaneously from the Trust Patient Administration System (PAS) by searching on the patient name, hospital number, NHS number or date of birth. All documentation can be previewed and printed at the click of a button, greatly reducing the time taken to compile all correspondence.

Taking this initiative, Trusts may also wish to seek other methods to streamline the process such as:

• Implementing a “pick-up” system to eliminate postage time
• Exploring avenues of electronic distribution

About Pathway Software

Pathway Software (www.pathwaysoftware.com) specialises in the design and development of patient information systems for Allied Health professionals.

Its flagship product, Therapy Manager, is an Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system specifically designed for Therapy Services to provide decision makers with the ability to track and manage clinical activity and analyse cost of care by patient, episode or service. The system also demonstrably reduces administration time and the costs of managing Therapy Services.