Are older people satisfied with discharge information?

In this article we report the views of older discharged patients who have had a stroke or have fractured the neck of their femur on the information they were given about their condition and treatment while in hospital. Structured face-to-face interviews carried out 10 days after discharge contained some open-ended questions. Responses to a question on information were coded according to whether they were indicative of satisfaction. These responses were also analysed qualitatively to identify themes: 41% reported satisfaction with information and 40% dissatisfaction. The responses of the remaining 19% could not be coded either way. Views indicative of dissatisfaction were more likely to be expressed by subjects with the poorest outcomes and those who had experienced most ward moves. All staff should be vigilant in ensuring that information is always clearly conveyed to the most frail patients.