General practitioners' attitudes to computer‐generated surgical discharge letters

OBJECTIVE: To assess general practitioners' attitudes to a computed-generated general surgical discharge letter. To identify the six most important items of information in an ideal discharge letter. DESIGN: One hundred and thirty general practitioners who had received at least six computer-generated surgical discharge letters in one year were circulated with a questionnaire. RESULTS: Most general practitioners approved of the computer-generated discharge letter which included all six of the most important items of information they requested. Eighty-four per cent wished to see a similar computer-generated discharge system extended into other areas of hospital practice.