Hospital Pharmacist
2008;15:118
April 2008

News summary

Discharge letter delays cause readmissions

Incomplete discharge documentation, particularly involving medicines, is common among patients who are readmitted to hospital within one month of discharge, a UK study has found (Quality and Safety in Health Care 2008;17:71–5).

A retrospective case-note review of 108 patients (aged 75 years or over) was conducted at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust. A total of 30 patients had been admitted to hospital as an emergency within three days of a previous discharge. A further 48 had been readmitted within seven days, and the remainder within 28 days.

Of the 108 patients, 67 either had no discharge letter or were readmitted before the letter had been written. Two-thirds of the discharge documentation that was written contained incomplete information regarding medication changes.

The reason for readmission was deemed to be medication-related in 41 cases, 25 of which were preventable.