Table 2 Summary of inpatient discharge letter sample and GP practice characteristics
Demographics and characteristics | Inpatient discharge letter sample (n = 375) | |
|---|---|---|
Group | Frequency (%) | |
GP letter grading | Successful | 234 (62.4%) |
Unsuccessful | 141 (37.6%) | |
Total | 375 (100%) | |
GP practice sizes | Small (< 5000 patients) | 1 (5.6%) |
Medium (5–10,000 patients) | 11 (61.1%) | |
Large (10,000+ patients) | 6 (33.3%) | |
Discharge speciality | missing | 88 (23.5%) |
Accident & Emergency | 10 (2.7%) | |
Acute Medicine | 7 (1.9%) | |
Ambulatory care | 2 (0.5%) | |
Acute Medical Unit | 2 (0.5%) | |
Breast Surgery | 2 (0.5%) | |
Cardiology | 22 (5.9%) | |
Cardiothoracic Surgery | 7 (1.9%) | |
Clinical Haematology | 6 (1.6%) | |
Colorectal Surgery | 8 (2.1%) | |
Diabetic Medicine | 5 (1.3%) | |
Endocrinology | 6 (1.6%) | |
Ear Nose and Throat | 5 (1.3%) | |
Fetal Medicine | 1 (0.3%) | |
Gastroenterology | 4 (1.1%) | |
Gastrointestinal Surgery | 6 (1.6%) | |
General Medicine | 32 (8.5%) | |
General Surgery | 26 (6.9%) | |
Geriatric Medicine | 15 (4.0%) | |
Infectious diseases | 3 (0.8%) | |
Maxillo-facial surgery | 2 (0.5%) | |
Nephrology | 10 (2.7%) | |
Neurology | 2 (0.5%) | |
Neurosurgery | 3 (0.8%) | |
Obstetrics & Gynaecology | 22 (5.9%) | |
Oncology | 3 (0.8%) | |
Ophthalmology | 1 (0.3%) | |
Pancreatic Surgery | 1 (0.3%) | |
Plastic Surgery | 1 (0.3%) | |
Respiratory Medicine | 21 (5.6%) | |
Stroke Medicine | 7 (1.9%) | |
Trauma & Orthopaedics | 16 (4.3%) | |
Urology | 21 (5.6%) | |
Vascular Surgery | 8 (2.1%) | |
Total | 375 (100.0%) | |
Letter format | combination | 14 (3.7%) |
handwritten | 5 (1.3%) | |
typed | 356 (94.9%) | |
Total | 375 (100.0%) | |
Sex of patient | missing | 181 (48.3%) |
Female | 94 (25.1%) | |
Male | 100 (26.7%) | |
Total | 375 (100.0%) | |
Age of patient | Range | 20–96 |
Median | 64 | |
IQR | 38, 77 | |
Role of signing physician | Nurse/ACP | 24 (6.4%) |
Junior Doctor | 177 (47.2%) | |
Speciality Trainee/ Core Trainee/ Registrar | 80 (21.3%) | |
Consultant | 14 (3.7%) | |
Other or unclear | 80 (21.3%) | |
Total | 375 (100.0%) | |