Clinic audit supports it

BMJ 1995;311:746 (16 September)

Letters

Clinic audit supports it

EDITOR,--The value of patients completing forms to express theirproblems before being seen by a general practitioner, as detailedby John F Middleton,¹ is also of value in a hospital outpatientclinic.

Following the success of such a system in the breast diagnosticclinic held at the Parapet Clinic, King Edward VII Hospital,Windsor, I introduced two questionnaires at my oncology clinicat the same hospital in 1990. Patients were asked to completethem on arrival at the clinic. The first, for new patients,was for them to give details of their medical history and alist of drugs being taken; the second was for follow up visitsand to obtain information on any problems occurring since thelast visit. In particular, patients were asked to report anypain, including its severity and site; other symptoms, includingchanges in bowel or bladder habits; undue stress and any needfor additional . . . [Full text of this article]