[Information for the patient in hospitals: the implicit shared role among professionals]

Perceived practices declared by physicians were assessed in order to determine the role of the different professionals in patient medical information, the communication methods and traceability practices used in patient files. Method Data were collected using an anonymous questionnaire sent by mail in April 2003 to the 794 physicians of the University Hospital of Nantes (France).

The participation rate was of 38% (302 responses) and differed according to the medical categories: university professors (44%), young seniors (50%), hospital practitioners (43%) and practitioners under contract (21%). In outpatient departments, patient information was rarely shared between professionals: the senior practitioner only informed the patient in 80% of cases. In the case of hospitalisation, patient information concerned various health professionals: in general, senior practitioners, junior practitioners (50% of cases) and nursing staff (20 to 45%). Information for the patient was always oral, accompanied in 1/3 of cases by one or more documents. The traceability of the elements of information supplied to the patient was inadequate.

This survey underlined the interest of the medical corps regarding information for the patient, and the important role played by junior practitioners and paramedical staff. Because they are all obviously implied in information supplied to the patient, quality improvement projects should target all the health professionals.