GPs need ‘reliable’ discharge summary system, concludes inquest
An elderly patient's GP was left unaware that she had been prescribed both metoprolol and verapamil while hospitalised, says NSW coroner
A GP never received a discharge summary that would have alerted him that an elderly patient had been prescribed both verapamil and metoprolol while hospitalised, a NSW coroner has found.
While the patient’s death 17 days later was most likely caused by ischaemic heart disease, it was possible the medication mix-up at Sydney’s Ryde Hospital contributed, said Magistrate Derek Lee.
“[It] is plain that a discharge summary from a hospital is intended to convey important information to a patient’s usual treatment providers,” the coroner wrote last week.
“Although there is no evidence in this case that the conveyance of such information would have prevented the eventual outcome, such information may well be more critical in a different scenario.
