How much does it matter if a hospital discharge letter is inaccurate?

Posted by CarolDanversFangurl@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 8 comments

My child was discharged from hospital yesterday after being treated for pneumonia. The discharge letter isn't accurate - it says she had a cough for 2 days (minor error, but it was 10 days and had gotten noticeably worse for 2), and that she maintained her oxygen at 94+ in air - this was true for a while in a&E in the early evening, but into the night when she got tired she went down to the low 80s and was only maintaining 90 to 92 with oxygen. She stayed on the oxygen for nearly a full day and her breathing was still visibly laboured. The letter went to the GP and will be on her record. How much does it matter that it isn't actually correct? Is it worth emailing the practice to correct it? Is it worth contacting the hospital to point it out?

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8 Comments

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TheFugitiveSock@reddit

I was hospitalised in an emergency situation a few years ago and the discharge letter mentioned the initial, incorrect diagnosis, not the final, correct one made by the consultant. I have tried to get that changed, as it could cause complications with, for example, travel insurance, should I ever suffer from the misdiagnosed ailment while on holiday, having correctly not disclosed previous experience of it when taking out the policy. I can't see this being relevant to your daughter's situation though, and the main thing is that it's on record that she had a sufficiently bad dose of pneumonia to be hospitalised, and what treatment was given. Wishing her a full and speedy recovery.

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Shot_Job812@reddit

With the nhs online systems, whenever I have a phone call or f2f the gp notes nearly everything discussed. I would think it noteworthy that she was on oxygen the whole time and they’ve said she was find on air. So I’d defo see if they can add a note or something that says what you’ve described. Could be relevant to potential future events, problems, diagnosis etc

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TheGreenPangolin@reddit

It probably won’t matter. But there’s a tiny chance it might. Like it might be relevant if she has a long term health issue as a result. And it might be relevant if you want to argue for extra vaccines. If I was you, I’d copy and paste the post you’ve written here, delete the questions off the end and email it, along with your child’s name, date of birth and nhs number to PALS (patient advice and liason service) at whichever hospital it was. They should get it fixed with minimal effort from you.

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znidz@reddit

Are you a clinician? I honestly wouldn't bother. I know the health of your child is very important but using this level of detail when interacting with a clinician might just make you look like you have a bit of "extra" about you.

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CarolDanversFangurl@reddit (OP)

I'm not sure that 'able to breathe effectively unassisted' or not is fine detail territory really. But ok.

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DankestDaddy69@reddit

One thing to note is that if any benefits from the government are needed later in terms of possible unable to work benefits (hopefully not of course). These documents are shared with DWP and will be taken as 100% accurate. While it could seem petty, having absolutely accurate health records is important I feel.

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A-Light-That-Warms@reddit

Personally I would not bother as they are extremely unlikely to be details that will be of massive importance in their future health. Ultimately though they're your child, you need to make this decision, do **you** think it is worthwhile?

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