Discharge Summary Quality Audit

Free projects are complete and ready to use. Paid projects can also be adapted to your local requirements. This project uses a fixed Lazomis clinical configuration of 24 audit criteria across timeliness and administrative completeness, diagnosis and clinical summary, medicines communication, follow-up and outstanding actions, pending results and responsibility, patient advice and safety-netting, escalation, capacity and safeguarding communication, transfer-of-care clarity and documentation quality. Data collection, dashboards, findings, improvement planning, re-audit and every output are included at no cost.

• Doctors, nurses, pharmacists, ACPs/PAs and allied health professionals
• Ward teams, discharge coordinators and service managers
• GP practice, community, care-home and hospice teams reviewing incoming discharge information
• QI leads, governance, patient safety, education and supervision teams

• Measure completeness, accuracy and timeliness of discharge summaries
• Assess communication of medication changes and high-risk medicines
• Review follow-up actions, GP and community responsibilities and pending results
• Identify variation by clinical area, care setting, discharge type and destination
• Generate governance-ready and ARCP-ready evidence

• Anonymised case identifier
• Age band, care setting, discharge destination, discharge summary type and discharge context
• Clinical area / location
• 24 fixed discharge summary quality criteria (Yes / No / Not applicable)
• Free-text learning points

• Live dashboard
• Audit report (Word)
• Executive summary (Word)
• Excel workbook
• PowerPoint presentation
• Conference poster
• ARCP evidence summary

• Designed to use anonymised or pseudonymised audit identifiers.
• This tool supports, but does not replace, clinical judgement.
• Local policy, formulary and specialist advice should be followed.
• Organisations remain responsible for local governance arrangements.
• This audit tool supports discharge documentation review and quality improvement. It does not replace clinical judgement, local discharge policy, medicines reconciliation guidance, information-governance advice, legal advice or specialist governance review.
• Audit data alone cannot support conclusions about unsafe discharge, readmission preventability, negligence, professional misconduct, causality or avoidable harm.
• Discharge summary timeframes and required content are set by local policy and are not defined by this tool.
• Use anonymous case identifiers only — never patient-identifiable information.

Supporting guidance from the Lazomis QI Resource Library. Authoritative clinical standards referenced by this project remain separate.

• Patient FlowOptimising Patient Flow Between Emergency Department and Acute Medical UnitThis guide explores common challenges in patient flow between the Emergency Department (ED) and Acute Medical Units (AMU), offering practical strategies for improvement, focusing on clinical and operational alignment.
• Data and DashboardsReducing Data Collection Burden in Clinical PracticeThis article outlines practical strategies for NHS teams to streamline data collection processes, reducing burden on staff while ensuring essential information is captured for quality improvement and governance.
• Clinical GovernanceTurning Governance Data into Clinical ImprovementThis guide outlines how NHS teams can transform routine clinical governance data into actionable insights, driving measurable improvements in patient care, safety, and efficiency. It covers practical steps from data collection to implementation and review.
• Lazomis QI GuidesWhy Clinical Governance Needs Better Data: From Compliance to ImprovementThis article explains why robust data is crucial for effective clinical governance, shifting its focus from mere compliance to active, continuous improvement in patient care and service delivery.