Hospital Reception Service

Study Notes

Reception personnel should be stationed close to the main gate to direct patients or visitors to the appropriate location in the facility.
Reception staff should be knowledgeable of the services provided by the hospital, the staff who provide services, and the layout of the hospital.
Reception staff should ascertain the following from each patient:
- Is the patient an emergency?
- Is the patient a laboring mother?
- Is the patient having an appointment for a follow-up clinic?
- Is the patient having an appointment for admission?
- Is the patient a private patient?
The reception staff is directly responsible (accountable) to the outpatient director.

Liaison service is vital for effective communication and sustainable smooth flow of patients.
Liaison officers should have special training for the position.
The hospital should provide liaison services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, throughout the year.
The liaison service should manage hospital bed occupancy (bed management).
The liaison service should facilitate:
- Emergency and non-emergency (elective) admission
- Social support to the emergency, inpatient and outpatient case teams
- Referral service
The liaison service should:
- Coordinate the overall referral activities
- Record and report the referral activities to facility management
- Compile, analyze, and interpret data to improve the referral service
- Take part in the quality assurance programs of the referral system
- Participate in regular review meetings within and outside the health facility

Hospitals should establish a Referral Protocol that outlines the criteria for making a referral to another facility.
The Referral Protocol should be known and adhered to by all relevant staff.
Hospitals should establish a Referrals Service Directory that lists facilities to/from which patient can be referred or received.
The contact details of each facility in the Referral Network should be documented.
The criteria for receiving/referring patients to each facility should also be documented and agreed between all facilities participating in the Network.

The hospital should establish a written protocol for patient discharge.
The hospital should design and own a discharge summary and mechanism of handling medical records afterwards.
The decision for discharge should be made by the treating physician, who should complete a discharge summary.
The first copy of the discharge summary should be given to the patient, while the second copy should be documented in the Medical Record.
If the patient was referred from another facility, the discharging physician should also complete the feedback section of the referral paper.