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

NCT ID: NCT00129636

Last Updated: 2019-10-04

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

84 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2004-03-31

Study Completion Date

2005-07-31

Brief Summary

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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.

Detailed Description

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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.

Conditions

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Heart Diseases Lung Diseases

Study Design

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Allocation Method

NA

Intervention Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Primary Study Purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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Patient attending hospital clinic

patients were sent a letter especially dictated for them and a copy of the letter written by the hospital consultant to their GP to review

Group Type OTHER

Additional specific letter written to patient

Intervention Type PROCEDURE

Interventions

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Additional specific letter written to patient

Intervention Type PROCEDURE

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* All patients attending respiratory/cardiology outpatient clinics

Exclusion Criteria

* Patients with reading/language difficulties
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

90 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sponsors

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Imperial College London

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

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Martyn R Partridge, MD FRCP

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Imperial College London

Locations

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NHLI Imperial College

London, , United Kingdom

Site Status

Countries

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United Kingdom

References

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Roberts NJ, Partridge MR. How useful are post consultation letters to patients? BMC Med. 2006 Jan 20;4:2. doi: 10.1186/1741-7015-4-2.

Reference Type RESULT
PMID: 16426444 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

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NHLICX3762

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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