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
