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

Heart Diseases Clinical Trial

Official title:

A Study to Determine the Usefulness of Patients Receiving Their Own Letter After an Outpatient Attendance Compared to Receiving a Copy of the Letter Being Sent to Their General Practitioner

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT00129636
• Other study ID #: NHLICX3762
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: March 2004
• Est. completion date: July 2005

Study information

• Verified date: October 2019
• Source: Imperial College London
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

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 (GPs) 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.

Description:

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.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 84
• Est. completion date: July 2005
• Est. primary completion date: January 2005
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years to 90 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• All patients attending respiratory/cardiology outpatient clinics

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients with reading/language difficulties

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Heart Diseases
• Lung Diseases

Intervention

Procedure:
• Additional specific letter written to patient

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United Kingdom	NHLI Imperial College	London

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Imperial College London

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United Kingdom, 

References & Publications (1)

Roberts NJ, Partridge MR. How useful are post consultation letters to patients? BMC Med. 2006 Jan 20;4:2. — View Citation

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Comprehensibility of the two styles of letter	(length, reading ease, Flesch Kincaid Grade, items misunderstood)	Baseline
Secondary	Patient preferences for the letters	Patients indicated a preference for either the GP and patient letter or both	baseline
Secondary	Deficiencies in the patient letter	Deficiencies highlighted by the GP on the patient letter	baseline