GUIDELINES

FOR
LETTER
WRITING
 INTRODUCTION

Letter Structure

Read Case Notes and Decide

Write your letter

 Types of Letter

Urgent
Refferal
Normal

Letter To Home
Discharge
Structure
To GP

To Nursing
Transfer
Home
 PUPROSE OF THE TASK

• The sole purpose of the task is to assess your writing skills

• You need to understand the task first. The case notes that you will get will

be for your reference. You shall use them smartly

• But, remember you should not copy the notes!

• You need to learn the art of paraphrasing. You can pick the information from

the case notes and reconstruct in your own words

• Try to use as many different grammatical structures as possible to convey

the information in a right way

• Do not try to use a single template for every letter! Each letter is unique

according to the case notes that are given

• Let us now break down the letter structure into parts/paragraphs, that are

easy to attempt and comprehend

 MAIN SIX CRITERIA

Our main target will be to fulfil all the Six criteria:

➢ Purpose (Final Diagnosis/main symptoms)

➢ Content (Relevant Case Note)

➢ Conciseness and clarity (Avoid Irrelevant case note)

➢ Genre and Style (Formal word, No Symbol, No word contraction, Clinical,

Precise,
Non-Judgmental)

➢ Organization and layout (Proper Structure, Writing most relevant

information first)

➢ Language (Grammatical facts, Vocabulary, Punctuation, Cohesion,

Spelling)
 WRITING TEMPLATE
1. Today's date
2. Doctor's name & title
3. Specialist / Designation
1.Address
4. Name of Hospital and address
5. Dear (Doctor's last name)
6. Re: (patient's full name) & D.O.B/Age (if DOB not given)

1. Normally two sentences.

2. Introduction
2. Mainly maintain the purpose of referral, and urgency

1. Complaints & Symptoms

3.Body part 1 2. Examination findings
(Initial relevant visit) 3. Treatment: Prescription/advice/investigation/review
schedule

1. Condition(improve/deterioration)/ new symptom

2. Examination finding
4.Body part 2
3. Investigation results
(Subsequent visit)
4. Further changing any medication/ add any
advice/recommendation

1. Final condition
5. Body part 3
2. Final investigation findings
(Final/Today’s visit)
3. Final treatment and plan

1. Personal history (marital status/smoker/alcoholic)

2. Medical history
6.Body part 4 3. Medication history
4. Family history
5. Allergy history

1. In view/light of the above, I believe X is/has been

suffering from Y disease. It would be highly appreciated
(Or I would be grateful) if you could assess/evaluate
his/her and manage/treat his/her condition
7. Conclusion
including/regarding special request.

2. Should there be any queries, please do not hesitate to

contact me

1. In case of given referred Doctor’s name Yours sincerely,

Doctor/ Dr X
8.Closing
2. In case of not given referred Doctor’s name Yours
faithfully, Doctor/ Dr X
 WRITING TEMPLATE EXAMPLE

1 Today’s date dd/mm/yyyy

2 Recipient title and full name Dr. Giovanni DiCoccio

3 Profession/Position Consultant

4 Hospital/Clinic name Proudhurst Family Practice

5 Hospital/Clinic address 231 Brightfield Avenue

6 Salutation Dear Dr. DiCoccio

Re: Bethany Tailor, 35

7 Re: Patient name, patient age
years of age

8 Introduction ---

9 Paragraph 1 (initial visit) ---

Paragraph 2 (subsequent
10 ---
visits)
Paragraph 3 (final/today’s
11 ---
visit)
Should there be any
12 Closing phrase / Conclusion queries, please do not
hesitate to contact me

13 Sign off Yours sincerely

14 Your profession Doctor

 HOW TO WRITE DIFFERENT PARTS OF LETTER

OPENING CLAUSE

PROVISIONAL DIAGNOSIS
PRESENTING COMPLAINT

SYMPTOMS
PAST HISTORY

RISK FACTORS / ALLERGY

CURRENT MEDICATIONS
TREATMENT
EXAMINATION
CONSULTATION

ADVICE

REQUEST / FUTURE MANAGEMENT