Contents and Quality of Referral Letters Received at the Emergency Paediatric Unit of a Tertiary Hospital in South East Nigeria

Abstract

Background: The referral letter is a document that contains vital medical information about a patient and also a means of transferring information about the care of patients from one healthcare worker to another. In developing regions of the world like Africa, where it may serve as the major route for transferring patient's information, the referral letter has infrequently been studied. Objective: The study is to assess the quality of referral letters to the Emergency Paediatric Unit (EPU) of a tertiary hospital in Southeast Nigeria. Methods: Referral letters sent to the Emergency Paediatric Unit of the Federal University Teaching Hospital Owerri (FUTHO) between January and March 2023 were reviewed for the content of information using a structured pre-tested proforma. Results: A total of 87 letters met the inclusion criteria. Seventy nine of the letters (95.2%) were from private health facilities. There were no expectation (0%) for feedback from any of the referring facilities. Only 4(4.8%) letters were adjudged good referral letters. Conclusion: Majority of the referral letters written to the Emergency Paediatric Unit did not contain sufficient information about the patient.