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# Hospital Trust Trials Plain-Language Discharge Letters
- URL: https://columnist.themesbykyle.com/hospital-trust-trials-plain-language-letters/
- Published: 2026-09-20T09:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-20T09:00:00.000Z
- Description: A rewrite of the standard discharge letter, tested with patients, cuts missed follow-up appointments by a fifth.
- Author: Ines Moreau-Walsh
- Tags: Ideas, Briefing, #Import 2026-10-04 11:15

A hospital trust in the north has rewritten its discharge letter in plain language and shortened it to a single page, with the next steps listed in order at the top.

In a three-month trial, missed follow-up appointments fell by about a fifth. Patients said the most helpful change was a single sentence explaining what to do if a symptom returned.

The trust has published the template so that other services can adapt it. “A letter is a piece of design,” said the clinician who led the trial. “We just hadn’t treated it that way.”