QUALITY OF PRIMARY CARE REFERRAL LETTERS AND FEEDBACK REPORTS IN BURAIDAH, QASSIM REGION, SAUDI ARABIA

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the quality of referral letters and feedback reports written according to the standards of Quality Assurance Manual of Ministry of Health from primary health care centers (PHCC's) in Buraidah. METHODOLOGY: This study was conducted during October and November 2004. A total of 330 referral letters and feedback reports were randomly selected from six PHCCs (20% from PHCCs in Buraidah City). About 55 referral and feedback letters were selected from each PHCC by systematic sampling method. The referral letters and feedback reports were reviewed thoroughly for the main items required in ideal referral letters and feedback reports according to the standard of Quality Assurance Manual of Ministry of Health, and a scoring system was used RESULT: Many of the referral letters lacked such important information as the history in 36%, vital signs in 30%, results of clinical examination in 45%, results of basic investigations in 52%, provisional diagnosis in 50%, and treatment given in PHCCs in 47%. The legibility of referral letters and feedback reports was good in 75%, and 63% respectively, and the quality of referral letters and feedback reports was good in 63% and 39% respectively. The rate of feedback reports received by PHCCs was 30% of total number of referrals to the hospitals. The referral rate was (4%) from total number of patients seen in PHCCs. The most frequent reasons for referrals were for general treatment 36.7%, for general diagnostic evaluation 28%, and for laboratory investigation 18.8%. CONCLUSION: The referral rate from PHCCs in Buraidah fell within the standard set in Quality Assurance Manual. However, the quality of referral letters and feedback reports was poor in 17.6% and 29.7% respectively. The quality of both referral letters and feedback reports should improve to guarantee the quality of patient care..