QE-Mail--improving communication between the hospital and general practitioners

To describe the process of developing a therapeutic bulletin with a view to improving communications between providers of primary and secondary care and to survey general practitioners to assess their responses to the bulletin and to ascertain their further information needs.

A clinical panel was convened to select relevant topics for inclusion in the bulletins. The topic for each bulletin was researched and written using standard information sources and relevant experts. A survey was mailed with the first edition of the bulletin, to GPs in the Western Division of General Practice and in country areas, and to Directors of Nursing from country hospitals.

The overall response rate to the survey was 41%. The majority of respondents had read the bulletin and found it useful. Most thought that the presentation, in terms of length, detail and layout, was suitable. Topics suggested for future editions included antibiotics, antihypertensives and antidepressants.

The bulletin, QE-Mail, was well received and helped to inform GPs about current practices at the hospital. Future directions include the use of e-mail to distribute the bulletins and a follow up survey to determine if the bulletin is still meeting practitioners' needs.