A survey of patient views on receiving vascular outpatient letters.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the attitude of patients to receiving a copy of vascular outpatient clinic letters.


METHODS
100 patients attending an outpatient vascular clinic at Christchurch Hospital were sent a copy of their outpatient letter along with a questionnaire. This gathered information on the content of the letter, their understanding of it, how useful they found it and whether they would want this practice to continue.


RESULTS
The response rate was 68%. Ninety four percent of the responders believed receiving a copy of the letter was a good reinforcement of the information they received at the consultation. Ninety three percent of responders also found being copied into correspondence helpful and 96% understood the contents of the letters. Ninety seven percent wished to receive more letters in the future.


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that vascular surgery patients both value and understand clinic letters, and that health professionals should consider adopting this practice into their vascular outpatient clinics.
Brodie
T
T
University of Otago, Christchurch School of Medicine, Christchurch Hospital, Private Bag 4710, Christchurch, New Zealand.
Lewis
D R
DR
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003142:Communication; D032882:Comprehension; D015709:Correspondence as Topic; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009520:New Zealand; D010045:Outpatients / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014656:Vascular Surgical Procedures / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult