Bill’s GP Dr. Campie sends an email to the cardiologist Dr. Hilton (please note the following correspondence shows a brief summary of information relating to Bill to illustrate SBAR).
Dr. Hilton’s reply to Dr. Campie
Bill’s GP Dr. Campie sends an email to the cardiologist Dr. Hilton (please note the following correspondence shows a brief summary of information relating to Bill to illustrate SBAR).
From: [email protected]
Subject: Bill
- S: Bill has deteriorated both in function and performance
- B: Medical deterioration: (see slide)
- A: medical exam
- R: Medical treatment to date, explanation of ceiling of treatments
Kind regards,
Dr. Campie
Heartburgh Surgery
Dr. Hilton’s reply to Dr. Campie
From: [email protected]
Subject: Re:Bill
The cardiologist’s responds by highlighting that Bill’s prognosis is poor. He has advanced cardiac disease, has experienced three admissions over an 8 month period. He is on optimal cardiological therapy and there are no further cardiac treatment options available to him. As there are no obvious reversible causes he may not benefit from a further hospital admission at this time. However if it is felt that admission to hospital is necessary due to social or further deterioration then then this should be considered appropriately.
Kind regards,
Dr. Hilton
Cardiologist
Heart Hospital
Pulse point
When patients ask about what their prognosis is, it can be unhelpful to start listing research information. Perhaps a more appropriate way is to make the statistics more meaningful to the individual patient. The following links can support you with suggested responses.
- Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care
- The Improvement Hub Scotland: Palliative and End of Life Care
It is recognised that general clinicians can be reluctant to discuss heart failure prognosis for fear of upsetting patients and their families. These conversations can be difficult and may benefit from experience and/or advanced communication skills training.
Activity: You may wish to consider shadowing an experienced colleague to enhance these skills.
Page last reviewed: 28 Jul 2020
