General practitioner ENT referral audit.

BACKGROUND

During 2009, there were 3.3 million outpatient attendances at outpatient clinics across Ireland. Up to 20 % of these are directed towards ENT services.

AIMS

To determine the compliance rate of general practitioners with the ICGP referral guidelines.

METHODS

One-hundred referrals received were compared to the ICGP standardised form and graded accordingly. Each referral letter was graded to a maximum of 37 points.

RESULTS

The average score recorded for referrals was 16/37. The referrer detail section scored the highest with a mean of 75.42 % (paediatric referrals) and 72.9 % (adult referrals). The clinical information provided demonstrated compliance rates of 34 % (paediatrics) and 35 % (adults). In total, only 32 letters made any reference to findings on examination. Both paediatric and adult referrals scored an average of 42 % when patients' details are considered.

CONCLUSION

This study demonstrates poor compliance rates with the introduced ICGP standardised referral form, which has implications for the accurate grading of referral letters received.