Heart DiseasesNCT00129636
The Usefulness of Patients Receiving Their Own Letter After an Outpatient Attendance
A study testing Additional specific letter written to patient in people with Heart Diseases and Lung Diseases, run by Imperial College London at 1 site in United Kingdom.
Trial summary
As part of the NHS plan it has been proposed to extend some consultants' usual practices and to send all patients copies of the letters sent to their general practitioners (GPs) following outpatient consultations. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 to 90 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Heart Diseases, Lung Diseases
- What is being tested?
- Additional specific letter written to patient
- Type of treatment
- Surgery or procedure
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 84 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited Kingdom
- Study dates
- Mar 2004to Jul 2005
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- None posted in the registry
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 to 90 years
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- All patients attending respiratory/cardiology outpatient clinics
Who cannot join
- Patients with reading/language difficulties
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
About this study
Official title: A Study to Determine the Usefulness of Patients Receiving Their Own Letter After an Outpatient Attendance Compared to Receiving a Copy of the Letter Being Sent to Their General Practitioner
As part of the NHS plan it has been proposed to extend some consultants' usual practices and to send all patients copies of the letters sent to their general practitioners (GPs) following outpatient consultations. The current Secretary of State for Health has further extended this proposal and suggested that patients should have a specific letter to themselves after a hospital consultation.
The aim of this study is to send patients both a copy of the letter sent to their GPs and a specific letter to themselves and to assess the usefulness and comprehensibility of each.
Read the detailed description
As part of the NHS plan it has been proposed to extend some consultants' usual practices and to send all patients copies of the letters sent to their general practitioners following outpatient consultations. The current Secretary of State for Health has further extended this proposal and suggested that patients should have a specific letter to themselves after a hospital consultation.
The aim of this study is to send patients both a copy of the letter sent to their GPs and a specific letter to themselves and to assess the usefulness and comprehensibility of each. This study will assess the two styles of letter in Cardiology and Respiratory Outpatient Clinics staffed by 7 consultants and will involve a group of 15-20 patients from each of the clinics, total number approximately 150 patients.
All patients attending the clinics will be given a sheet outlining the study before their consultations. If they are interested in the study, patients will be given a Patient Information Sheet and asked consent to take part. The length of each of the two dictated letters will be recorded. To avoid costs to the NHS, the direct to patient letters will be typed at the study investigators' cost. Two copies of each letter, a short explanatory letter and a questionnaire will be sent to the patient and the patient will be asked to circle points in each of the letters which are unclear and return them to the department. At the end of the study the general practitioners will be contacted and asked their views about the two letters.
- Conditions
- Heart Diseases, Lung Diseases
- Being tested
- Additional specific letter written to patient
- Keywords
- post consultation letter
- Medical subject headings
- Heart Diseases, Lung Diseases
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Additional specific letter written to patientProcedure or surgery
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Patient attending hospital clinic | Other | patients were sent a letter especially dictated for them and a copy of the letter written by the hospital consultant to their GP to review Receives: Procedure: Additional specific letter written to patient |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Comprehensibility of the two styles of letter
(length, reading ease, Flesch Kincaid Grade, items misunderstood)
Measured: Baseline
Secondary outcomes (2)
Patient preferences for the letters
Patients indicated a preference for either the GP and patient letter or both
Measured: baseline
Deficiencies in the patient letter
Deficiencies highlighted by the GP on the patient letter
Measured: baseline
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted12 Aug 2005 (estimated)
- Study startMar 2004
- Primary completionJan 2005
- Study completionJul 2005
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Publications (1)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for Heart DiseasesStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by Imperial College LondonThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Health services research
- Allocation
- Not applicable
- Intervention model
- Single group
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 84 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Imperial College London
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
- Investigators
- Martyn R Partridge, MD FRCP, Principal investigator, Imperial College London
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT00129636
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- NHLICX3762
- Status last verified
- Oct 2019
- First submitted
- 11 Aug 2005
- Last updated
- 4 Oct 2019
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No
Publications
Roberts NJ, Partridge MR. How useful are post consultation letters to patients? BMC Med. 2006 Jan 20;4:2. doi: 10.1186/1741-7015-4-2.
PubMed 16426444
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 4 Oct 2019. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- A Study to Determine the Usefulness of Patients Receiving Their Own Letter After an Outpatient Attendance Compared to Receiving a Copy of the Letter Being Sent to Their General Practitioner
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT00129636
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- NHLICX3762
- Conditions
- Heart Diseases, Lung Diseases
- Keywords
- post consultation letter
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 84 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- Imperial College LondonUniversity, hospital or other
- Study start
- Mar 2004 (actual)
- Primary completion
- Jan 2005 (actual)
- Study completion
- Jul 2005 (actual)
- First posted
- 12 Aug 2005 (estimated)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
As part of the NHS plan it has been proposed to extend some consultants' usual practices and to send all patients copies of the letters sent to their general practitioners (GPs) following outpatient consultations. The current Secretary of State for Health has further extended this proposal and suggested that patients should have a specific letter to themselves after a hospital consultation.
The aim of this study is to send patients both a copy of the letter sent to their GPs and a specific letter to themselves and to assess the usefulness and comprehensibility of each.
Detailed description
As part of the NHS plan it has been proposed to extend some consultants' usual practices and to send all patients copies of the letters sent to their general practitioners following outpatient consultations. The current Secretary of State for Health has further extended this proposal and suggested that patients should have a specific letter to themselves after a hospital consultation.
The aim of this study is to send patients both a copy of the letter sent to their GPs and a specific letter to themselves and to assess the usefulness and comprehensibility of each. This study will assess the two styles of letter in Cardiology and Respiratory Outpatient Clinics staffed by 7 consultants and will involve a group of 15-20 patients from each of the clinics, total number approximately 150 patients.
All patients attending the clinics will be given a sheet outlining the study before their consultations. If they are interested in the study, patients will be given a Patient Information Sheet and asked consent to take part. The length of each of the two dictated letters will be recorded. To avoid costs to the NHS, the direct to patient letters will be typed at the study investigators' cost. Two copies of each letter, a short explanatory letter and a questionnaire will be sent to the patient and the patient will be asked to circle points in each of the letters which are unclear and return them to the department. At the end of the study the general practitioners will be contacted and asked their views about the two letters.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Health services research
- Allocation
- Not applicable
- Intervention model
- Single group
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 1
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Patient attending hospital clinic | Other | Procedure: Additional specific letter written to patientpatients were sent a letter especially dictated for them and a copy of the letter written by the hospital consultant to their GP to review |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 to 90 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (1 listed)
- All patients attending respiratory/cardiology outpatient clinics
Key exclusion criteria (1 listed)
- Patients with reading/language difficulties
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Additional specific letter written to patient | Procedure or surgery | Patient attending hospital clinic |
Primary outcome
Comprehensibility of the two styles of letter
Time frame: Baseline
(length, reading ease, Flesch Kincaid Grade, items misunderstood)
2 secondary outcomes
Patient preferences for the letters
Time frame: baseline
Deficiencies in the patient letter
Time frame: baseline
Results and safety
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 4 Oct 2019.
- Results publication: PubMed 16426444Roberts NJ, Partridge MR. How useful are post consultation letters to patients? BMC Med. 2006 Jan 20;4:2. doi: 10.1186/1741-7015-4-2.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Martyn R Partridge, MD FRCP principal investigator
Imperial College London
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Additional specific letter written to patient in people with Heart Diseases and Lung Diseases, run by Imperial College London at 1 site in United Kingdom.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 1 inclusion and 1 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 4 Oct 2019. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United Kingdom. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Comprehensibility of the two styles of letter (time frame: Baseline). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT00129636, which also lists 1 linked publication.
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 4 Oct 2019.