Patients fudging records,GMSH launches revised discharge slips

The records,authorities hope,will also help them in medico legal cases (MLC) and to answer RTI queries.

The hospital authorities had been peeved at the increasing number of instances,in which,admitted patients were allegedly changing records especially on the discharge slip in MLC cases.

Authorities had also wanted to curb doctors prescribing unwanted medicines to patients.

The revised discharge slip will now have complete details including the name of the medical officer who first looked after the patient during the admission process and the doctor,under whom,treatment was administered.

Says Dr Rajiv Vadera,officiating director,health services and medical superintendent on GMSH: “Patients should know the diagnosis,treatment given and whether any rest has been advised or not. So for all this,we need proper documentation of diagnosis,treatment given during admission,any rest advised at the time of discharge and information regarding follow ups. Also,this will help us document the name of the doctor who advised discharging or referring the patient. This will have an inbuilt mechanism of curbing the injudicious prescription of medicines which are a burden on the patient.”

Sources say that on an average there are at least 2-4 cases,where patients change the dates of their discharge from the hospital. They added that in some cases,owing to inadequate patient records,there is delay in treatment of patients, who are referred to other hospitals such as PGI,at the referred hospital.