Key result
Medical doctors in Sudan identified six barriers to documenting discharge summaries: missing information, inadequate education, lack of templates, no quality monitoring, workload, and accountability.
Why the study?
Incomplete or poorly written discharge summaries compromise patient safety and care quality in fragile healthcare systems, but doctors' challenges in documenting them were unexplored.
Systemic, structural, and behavioral barriers significantly hinder the continuity and quality of postdischarge care documentation in Sudan.
May inform local quality initiatives in Sudan; leaves open generalizability and effects on care transitions.
In fragile healthcare systems such as Sudan, discharge summaries play a critical role, as they often serve as the only documentation of a patient’s hospitalization. Incomplete or poorly written discharge summaries reduce care quality, compromise patient safety, and negatively affect the overall patient experience. This study aimed to explore medical doctors’ perceived challenges in documenting discharge summaries for patients with chronic diseases in Sudan. We conducted a qualitative study using semistructured interviews with medical doctors involved in patient discharge and working in public hospitals. Two independent analysts performed content analysis on the data. The analysis revealed six interrelated themes: missing or incomplete information, inadequate education and supervision, lack of standardized templates, absence of quality monitoring, overwhelming workload, and individual accountability. These findings highlight key systemic, structural, and behavioral barriers that hinder the continuity and quality of postdischarge care.
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A 2025 study studied Discharge summary documentation. Discharge summary documentation was evaluated on Perceived challenges in documenting discharge summaries. Medical doctors in Sudan identified six barriers to documenting discharge summaries: missing information, inadequate education, lack of templates, no quality monitoring, workload, and accountability.
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