Trainer – Registrar Education and Assessment Toolkit

What do you want to do with your registrar today?

TREAT

A passenger liner passes by the hospital

I want to assess the registrar’s referral letters

 

Use the Sheffield Assessment Instrument for Letters

Also known as SAIL

What is it?

A checklist of ideal things which should be in a referral letter, with a global rating at the end.

Who developed it?

This was developed in Sheffield in the UK to assess and improve paediatric junior doctors’ letters back to GPs. It was developed by consensus as to what should be in an ideal letter.

How is it done?

The supervisor or the registrar can go through the checklist for one or more of their letters.

What does the supervisor do?

The supervisor can use the checklist as a way of providing systematic feedback to a registrar on improving their referral letters. The overall score has been validated as a reproducible and discriminating assessment of the doctors performance, but the checklist allows for a discussion to take place.

Practice tip

Use the checklist on some of your own letters and some of your registrar’s letters in part of a tutorial, both make a plan as to how you will improve your letters, and recheck it a month later.

Further Information

Fox et al Improving the quality of outpatient clinic letters

using the Sheffield Assessment Instrument for Letters (SAIL) Medical Education 2004; 38: 852–858

Or contact Tim Senior