Improving transmission rates of electronic discharge summaries to GPs.

Discharge summaries are a vital tool to communicate information from Hospital to Primary Care teams; updating GPs about what happened during an admission, and handing over care detailing any follow up care required. Historically, Discharge Summaries have been posted to hospitals, increasing costs for hospitals, creating administrative work for GP practices receiving the letters, and resulting in some letters being lost or delayed in reaching the GP, with implications for patient safety if follow up requests are not received and acted upon. In an effort to improve patient care, the Clinical Commissioning Group in Surrey drew up a contract with Ashford and St Peter's Foundation Trust, aiming to increase the percentage of discharge summaries sent electronically from the rate of 9% sent within 24 hours, to over 75%.

Improving patient discharge process using electronic medication input tool and on-line guide to arranging follow-ups.

Complete, accurate and timely discharge summaries (TTOs) enable effective communication between hospital teams and GPs. It can prevent adverse events and reduce hospital readmission rates (1). If the discharge summary does not contain important information (e.