Article Sidebar
Article Details
Copyright remains in the Author’s name. The work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution - Noncommercial Works License. Authors are required to complete and sign an Author Agreement form that outlines Author and Publisher rights and terms of publication. The Agreement form should be uploaded along with other submissions files and any submission will be considered incomplete without it [forthcoming].
Material submitted for publication in the SAMJ is accepted provided it has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere. Please inform the editorial team if the main findings of your paper have been presented at a conference and published in abstract form, to avoid copyright infringement. The SAMJ does not hold itself responsible for statements made by the authors.
Previously published images
If an image/figure has been previously published, permission to reproduce or alter it must be obtained by the authors from the original publisher and the figure legend must give full credit to the original source. This credit should be accompanied by a letter indicating that permission to reproduce the image has been granted to the author/s. This letter should be uploaded as a supplementary file during submission.
Main Article Content
The referral letter - a problem of communication
Abstract
This cross-sectional ,descriptive study assesses the letters sent with referred patients to Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, Cape Town, and makes appropriate recommendations. During the 6-month period 1 July - 31 December 1987, 9 288 letters were photocopied at the admissions offices of the hospital. A sample of the letters collected, systematically stratified to represent the available days during the study, was analysed. Detailed analysis of 1143 (12,3%) letters was undertaken. The private sector, i.e. general practitioners, was the largest referral agency, followed by communitybased day hospitals. The quality of information in referral letters was comparable to that found in other studies. The quality of letters influenced the writing of replies by hospital staff. There is a need to develop ways of improving communication between hospital staff and referral agents.
