Health Minister Ryan Park has expressed concern about the number of patients who did not receive a discharge summary of their treatment at emergency departments across NSW, which was highlighted in a new survey.
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The Bureau of Health Information (BHI) emergency department patient survey, released on Wednesday, found less than two thirds of patients across the state said they had received a letter to their GP or other health professional summarising the care they received at the ED.
Patients in Sydney and major urban centres were more likely than those in regional areas to be given a letter - however, Wollongong Hospital's performance in this measure was 10 percentage points below NSW average.
Only 54 per cent of respondents who went to Wollongong ED said they received a letter to their GP, with 34 per cent saying they definitely did not receive one and 11 per cent saying they couldn't recall.
Results were better at Shellharbour, with 65 per cent of respondents receiving a letter to their GP, 23 per cent saying they did not receive and 12 per cent saying they couldn't recall.
In one highlighted response in the BHI report, a patient said they had been happy with everything about their ED experience "apart from no letter provided to my GP".
!["I expect [patients] to leave with adequate information to enable their care to continue with their general practitioner," Health Minister Ryan Park said. Picture by Anna Warr.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/HcD9H4nNcktxiWcmkEEpQD/d10a3eac-9606-4bc4-bc7b-653f2e544304.jpg/r0_272_2470_2481_w576_h298_fmax.webp "\"I expect [patients] to leave with adequate information to enable their care to continue with their general practitioner,\" Health Minister Ryan Park said. Picture by Anna Warr.")
"Only my blood results were sent to them, so they didn't know why I had presented to ED," the patient said.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Mr Park said he was concerned about the low rates, especially in rural areas and had asked NSW Health to explain why this was happening.
"I expect [patients] to leave with adequate information to enable their care to continue with their general practitioner," he said.
"That's what the community expects, that's what I would expect for my own family and I've made it clear to NSW Health that I want to understand why this is the case, particularly in regional and rural areas.
"I expect that anyone who comes to our hospitals is able to be discharged with enough information that their GP can continue their care out in the community."
NSW chair of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners Dr Charlotte Hespe told Nine Newspapers the survey results regarding GP letters were "very, very disappointing".
"I think we should be actually aiming for 100 per cent," she said.
"It's a really sad indictment on the system that the doctors in the emergency departments don't get how important that documentation is for ongoing care."
Dr Hespe said GPs had to chase up documents with hospitals, leading to delayed care.
"You've then got a double whammy where they don't know that they need to see somebody for follow-up, and that person then ... ends up bouncing back into hospital as well," she said.
Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
