Copying clinical letters: access issues for specific patient groups

Jelley, Diana
Walker, Caron

General Practitioner, Collingwood Surgery, North Shields, and Lead Researcher, North Tyneside Primary Care Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
Research and Development Facilitator, North Tyneside Primary Care Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE

Dr Diana Jelley, Collingwood Surgery, Hawkeys Lane, North Shields NE29 0SF, UK. Tel: +44 (0)191 257 1779; fax: +44 (0)191 226 9909; email:[email protected]

Accepted June 2003

Quality in Primary Care 11(3):p 215-220, 2003.

Objectives

The aim of this study was to find out the views of specific groups of patients on copying clinical letters to patients, with a focus on patients that may have difficulty accessing or understanding written English.

Design

A qualitative study using semi-structured group interviews.

Setting

One primary care trust (PCT) district in the urban north east of England.

Participants

Eleven voluntary groups serving the needs of people with learning disabilities, visual and hearing impairments and ethnic minority communities – 29 volunteer participants from a purposive sample of these organisations based in the study PCT area.

Results

Patients with the defined access needs were keen to receive copy letters. However, a series of suggestions were made to improve access, including use of a range of formats such as tapes or CDs, translation of medical terms, and provision of practice-based language translators and patient advocates.

Conclusion

Copying letters is soon to become routine NHS policy. This is welcomed by patients. However, there are important issues to address if implementation is to be helpful for all patients.