title: Letters from the radiation oncologist: do referring doctors give a damn?
abstract: Letters sent to referring and associated doctors by a radiation oncologist after consultation and treatment for 128 consecutive patients were reviewed. Overall, only 60% of information items previously identified as 'essential' were included in these letters. An anonymous survey of the referring doctors and general practitioners (GPs) for these 128 patients was conducted. A total of 93 of 103 respondents considered letter content to be satisfactory or very good, nine considered letter content to be only average and only one respondent considered content to be unsatisfactory. The possible reasons for high levels of satisfaction regarding correspondence by referring doctors and GPs in spite of the relatively low level of information content are explored.
authors.affiliation: Cancer Care Centre, St George Hospital, Kogarah, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: P H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Graham
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wilson
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D015709:Correspondence as Topic; D003625:Data Collection; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D018787:Radiation Oncology; D012017:Referral and Consultation