Referral Communications in Sri Lanka; Views of General Practitioners

dc.contributor.authorRamanayake, R.P.J.C.
dc.contributor.authorde Silva, A.H.W.
dc.contributor.authorPerera, D.P.
dc.contributor.authorSumanasekera, R.D.N.
dc.contributor.authorAthukorala, L.A.C.L.
dc.contributor.authorFernando, K.A.T.
dc.date.accessioned2015-08-19T11:02:22Z
dc.date.available2015-08-19T11:02:22Z
dc.date.issued2014
dc.description.abstractINTRODUCTION: Referral of patients to specialists and hospitals is an essential and inevitable aspect of primary health care. Maintain good communication is essential during the process in order to provide quality care without delays and unnecessary expenses. In Sri Lanka referral letter from a general practitioner (GP) is not essential to get admitted to a hospital or to consult a specialist and there is no registered population for a particular practitioner. This study was conducted to look at the views of general practitioners on referral communications. METHODOLOGY: This was a descriptive cross sectional study and postal survey was conducted among members of the college of general practitioners of Sri Lanka using a self administered structured questionnaire. RESULTS: Response rate was 28.7%. Only less than 60% wrote a referral letter always when referring a patient to a hospital/ specialist and the main reasons were; Patients insistence on referral without an indication, No feedback from specialists and lack of ownership to non regular patients. Information related to the disease and administrative details were the items of information mainly included in letters while socio psychological items were given lesser importance. Reply rate was very poor irrespective of the referral destination and main items of information expected in a reply letter were; Diagnosis, plan of management and instructions to the GP. DISCUSSION: There should be better communication and coordination between GPs and specialists/hospital doctors. Ways and means should be explored and rectifying measures should be undertaken which will benefit patients, GPs, specialists/hospital doctors and the health care system.en_US
dc.identifier.citationScientific Research Journal.2014;2(6):17-22en_US
dc.identifier.issn2201-2796
dc.identifier.urihttp://repository.kln.ac.lk/handle/123456789/9241
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.publisherSciRJen_US
dc.subjectViews of General Practitionersen_US
dc.titleReferral Communications in Sri Lanka; Views of General Practitionersen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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