Recording occupation in general practice--a second cycle audit.

Area of Science:

• General Practice
• Health Informatics
• Occupational Medicine

Background:

• An initial audit in 2012 revealed infrequent and inconsistent recording of patient occupations in Cornish general practices.
• A concurrent survey indicated that most general practitioners (GPs) recognized the importance of recording patient occupations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To reassess occupation recording in the same practices one year later.
• To audit occupation recording in a third practice after the implementation of the electronic fit note system.
• To re-evaluate GP attitudes towards recording patient occupation in Cornwall.

Main Methods:

• Manual review of 300 patient records in Practice A.
• Electronic searches of all working-age patient records (16-65 years) in Practices B and C.
• An electronic survey distributed to 202 GPs in Cornwall regarding attitudes to occupation recording.

Main Results:

• Occupation recording increased from 17% to 30% in Practice A and from 12% to 14% in Practice B.
• Practice C showed very low occupation recording at 1%.
• The proportion of GPs considering occupation recording important rose from 70% to 90%.

Conclusions:

• While patient occupation recording saw an increase between 2012 and 2013, it remains infrequent and inconsistent.
• The low recording rates in the newly audited practice are a significant concern.
• Further improvements are needed to ensure comprehensive and consistent recording of patient occupations.