Table 2.

Summary of inpatient discharge letter sample and GP practice characteristics

Demographics and characteristics	Inpatient discharge letter sample (n = 375)
	Group	Frequency (%)
GP letter grading	Successful	234 (62.4%)
	Unsuccessful	141 (37.6%)
	Total	375 (100%)
GP practice sizes	Small (< 5000 patients)	1 (5.6%)
	Medium (5–10,000 patients)	11 (61.1%)
	Large (10,000+ patients)	6 (33.3%)
Discharge speciality	missing	88 (23.5%)
	Accident & Emergency	10 (2.7%)
	Acute Medicine	7 (1.9%)
	Ambulatory care	2 (0.5%)
	Acute Medical Unit	2 (0.5%)
	Breast Surgery	2 (0.5%)
	Cardiology	22 (5.9%)
	Cardiothoracic Surgery	7 (1.9%)
	Clinical Haematology	6 (1.6%)
	Colorectal Surgery	8 (2.1%)
	Diabetic Medicine	5 (1.3%)
	Endocrinology	6 (1.6%)
	Ear Nose and Throat	5 (1.3%)
	Fetal Medicine	1 (0.3%)
	Gastroenterology	4 (1.1%)
	Gastrointestinal Surgery	6 (1.6%)
	General Medicine	32 (8.5%)
	General Surgery	26 (6.9%)
	Geriatric Medicine	15 (4.0%)
	Infectious diseases	3 (0.8%)
	Maxillo-facial surgery	2 (0.5%)
	Nephrology	10 (2.7%)
	Neurology	2 (0.5%)
	Neurosurgery	3 (0.8%)
	Obstetrics & Gynaecology	22 (5.9%)
	Oncology	3 (0.8%)
	Ophthalmology	1 (0.3%)
	Pancreatic Surgery	1 (0.3%)
	Plastic Surgery	1 (0.3%)
	Respiratory Medicine	21 (5.6%)
	Stroke Medicine	7 (1.9%)
	Trauma & Orthopaedics	16 (4.3%)
	Urology	21 (5.6%)
	Vascular Surgery	8 (2.1%)
	Total	375 (100.0%)
Letter format	combination	14 (3.7%)
	handwritten	5 (1.3%)
	typed	356 (94.9%)
	Total	375 (100.0%)
Sex of patient	missing	181 (48.3%)
	Female	94 (25.1%)
	Male	100 (26.7%)
	Total	375 (100.0%)
Age of patient	Range	20–96
	Median	64
	IQR	38, 77
Role of signing physician	Nurse/ACP	24 (6.4%)
	Junior Doctor	177 (47.2%)
	Speciality Trainee/ Core Trainee/ Registrar	80 (21.3%)
	Consultant	14 (3.7%)
	Other or unclear	80 (21.3%)
	Total	375 (100.0%)