A new Mental Health Discharge Summary

A new Mental Health Discharge Summary has been developed to help standardise the information that GPs receive when a patient is discharged from in-patient mental health care.

Over the years GPs, patients and carers have expressed concerns that information received has been inconsistent or too detailed. This can lead to poor patient care. To meet this need, standards and summaries have been designed to provide useful, succinct information to help doctors improve the continuity of care.

The Summary has been developed in collaboration between the Royal Colleges of Psychiatrists, General Practitioners and Physicians and facilitated through the Department of Health Informatics Directorate’s Clinical Data Standards Assurance team.

This work builds on the headings that were developed by the Royal College of Physicians and approved by the Academy of Royal Medical Colleges in 2008. The Summary incorporates feedback from clinicians, patients, suppliers and health and social care representatives to ensure it meets the needs of GPs and their patients who have received in-patient mental health care.

The Summary will now be implemented at a number of Mental Health Trusts, including the Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust and Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust. You can view the Summary at: 

http://www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk/systemsandservices/clinrecords/mhds

For further information please contact Gary Ward, Temporary Media & Communications Manager, Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Tel: 020 7235 2351 ext 6298; email: gward@rcpsych.ac.uk