Writing TTOs

The TTO (to take out), also known as the TTA (to take away), is a form that should be completed for all patients being discharged from hospital. It both summarises the patient's hospital stay for their general practitioner and acts as a prescription to order the drugs they need to take home with them. Here are some tips on filling in the TTO form.

• All information should be legible and accurate

• If possible, complete the TTO the day before the patient is discharged. That way there is no delay in getting the patient's tablets from pharmacy

• Use a ballpoint pen and press hard so that the information is transmitted by carbon copy to all the pages

• Check the patient's details. If you are using addressograph labels, remember to put a sticker on each of the pages

• Document the ward, consultant's name, and the GP's name and address

• Document the dates the patient was admitted and discharged

• Record the diagnosis

• List the investigations performed and the results (briefly)

• List any treatments or procedures (including the date they were performed)

• Highlight any changes to drugs

• Document any treatment on discharge

• Write names of drugs to be taken after discharge in capital letters

• Spell out the plan on discharge and any follow up arrangements—for example, date of appointment in outpatient clinic

• Document where the patient has gone—for example, discharged to nursing home

• Document any allergies to drugs

• Ensure enough drugs are given (for example, to last over a holiday period)

• Prescribe dosages of controlled drugs in numbers and words, with the total dose to be dispensed

• Sign your name and then print it and give your bleep number in case the GP needs to contact you

• Record on the front of the drug chart and in the patient's notes when TTOs have been written to avoid duplication by on-call doctors