DOCUMENTATION OF BLOOD CULTURE RESULTS

Aims-To evaluate the adequacy of documentation of blood culture result s in patients' medical notes. Methods-A pro-forma was completed follow ing review of medical notes at 24 and 48 hours after a blood culture h ad been reported as positive. The study was performed on blood culture s received at the Department of Microbiology, Royal Hallamshire Hospit al, Sheffield, from two local hospitals. Two periods were studied: (A) May to June 1993 and (B) September to October 1993. Results-There wer e 43 results studied in period A and 79 in period B, giving a total of 122 results studied. Overall, 72 (59%) of 122 results were recorded i n the medical notes at 24 hours. Of those results deemed highly signif icant, 40 (63%) of 63 were recorded. There was no significant differen ce in the documentation of results if the result was given personally or via the telephone. Nor was there any difference in documentation be tween different medical grades. Throughout the study there were six in accurate records. The cumulative documentation over 48 hours of positi ve results was 54 (86%) of 63 of highly significant, 27 (69%) of 39 of uncertain significance, and 11 (55%) of 20 probable contaminant resul ts. Conclusions-Documentation of blood culture results is currently su boptimal.