‘Ghost doctors’ referring patients to vascular clinic
James Debono In 20% of cases, general practitioners failed to identify themselves when referring patients to the vascular clinic in Mater Dei, which treats diseases like coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes and kidney disease.
The “woefully inadequate” information provided in referral tickets for patients referred to this clinic is exposed in a paper written by Karen Chetcuti, Ronnie Farrugia and Kevin Cassar published in the latest edition of the Malta Medical Journal.
The analysis of 100 referral tickets found that 62% of doctors failed to provide their address and 66% failed to include their registration numbers.
According to the authors of the study, good medical practice requires adequate communication between the general practitioner and the specialist.
The failure of GPs to provide contact details shows that they are not expecting the specialist to provide them with feedback, or that they are not even interested in receiving feedback.
Only doctors who provide their details are provided with a diagnosis and a follow up plan for the patient’s care.
GPs also failed to provide basic information about the patients, failing to provide the patient’s telephone number if 64% of the cases.
The study recommends a new improved template for doctors’ referrals which makes it easier for them to fill the details.
The study was based on an analysis of 100 referral tickets issued between December 2007 and February 2008.
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