Health bulletin
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All maternity cases in which babies were transferred in-utero (n = 82) or neonatally (n = 273) from the William Smellie Memorial Maternity Hospital to a regional neonatal intensive care unit during 1980-89 were studied to detect changing trends and outcomes. The proportion of babies transferred in-utero has increased and most of these transfers appear to have been justified. ⋯ Perinatal mortality has fallen in line with national rates, mainly due to the decline in mortality of premature babies transferred neonatally. The results do not sustain the argument for further increasing in-utero transfers.
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An audit of all 466 non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients first diagnosed between 1979 and 1981 at a district general hospital in Fife was carried out. This involved the retrospective examination of their medical records and follow up of the patients to 1989 with particular reference to mortality and the development of complications. Throughout the study period the hospital, which has a total catchment population of about 160,000, operated a policy of encouraging all newly diagnosed diabetics to be referred to hospital for assessment and management. ⋯ A simple audit of mortality is suitable for measuring their care. General practitioner diabetic mini-clinics for the follow-up of non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients will have smaller numbers of patients to review compared with the traditional follow-up clinics seen in most district general hospitals. These may allow earlier detection and treatment of hypertension and dyslipidaemia.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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Comparative Study
The delivery of interim discharge summaries to general practitioners by the elderly.
Two hundred and four patients discharged from an acute geriatric unit were given an interim discharge summary for delivery to their General Practitioner (GP). All but three summaries were received by the practices. ⋯ General practitioners collected the summaries from patients' homes in a high proportion of both groups. Interim discharge summaries should be given to elderly patients for delivery to their GPs: this is both reliable and rapid, and clearly more cost-effective than any other form of delivery.