The task
Assume that today's date is 5 November 2026. This is original independent practice material. All patient-specific findings, laboratory findings and treating-team decisions are fictional case facts. Allow 45 minutes: 5 minutes for reading and 40 minutes for writing.
You are a doctor on the medical ward. Using the case notes, write an update to Dr Carolina Dejesus, General Practitioner, General Practice, 24 Station Road, SW19 2AB. Retract the incorrect blood culture conclusion in Mr Martim Valcarcel's discharge summary, explain the confirmed findings and continuing care, and state the ward's and GP's communication responsibilities. In your answer: expand the relevant notes into complete sentences; do not use note form; use letter format. The body of the letter should be approximately 180–200 words.
Length: the body of the letter should be about 180–200 words. You have 45 minutes in the test: 5 minutes to read, 40 to write. Letter type: Update letter.
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Which case notes belong in this letter?
Community-acquired pneumonia after admission: update
You are a doctor on the medical ward. Using the case notes, write an update to Dr Carolina Dejesus, General Practitioner, General Practice, 24 Station Road, SW19 2AB. Retract the incorrect blood culture conclusion in Mr Martim Valcarcel's discharge summary, explain the confirmed findings and continuing care, and state the ward's and GP's communication responsibilities. In your answer: expand the relevant notes into complete sentences; do not use note form; use letter format. The body of the letter should be approximately 180–200 words.
Mark every line: Include keeps the specific detail; Compress keeps the relevant gist in fewer words; Omit leaves it out. Then compare your choices with our reviewed analysis. Some choices are optional.
Download practice checklist (PDF)
One-page worksheet. Answers and reasons are on the linked webpage, so you can practise before checking.
Case notes
Patient details
- Name: Mr Martim Valcarcel
- DOB: 18/08/1968 (58 yrs)
- Discharged home 03/11/26 after pneumonia admission
- GP: Dr Carolina Dejesus; original discharge summary already received
Social background
- Lives with wife; independent
- Enjoys restoring bicycles
- Wife works part-time
Medical history
- Hypertension; established treatment known to GP
- Appendicectomy 1994
- NKDA
Admission and progress
- Admission: fever, productive cough, breathlessness
- CXR: R basal consolidation
- IV → oral antibiotics during admission
- Discharge: afebrile, mobilising independently; no oxygen requirement
- Prescribed antibiotic course completed before discharge; none prescribed for home
Microbiology correction
- 03/11 summary incorrectly stated 'pneumococcal bacteraemia'
- Laboratory confirms positive culture belonged to another patient; report formally withdrawn
- Corrected laboratory report + amended discharge summary attached
- Verified patient's own blood cultures: final no growth; no causative organism established
- Community-acquired pneumonia diagnosis retained: supported by symptoms + CXR
Current assessment and treatment plan
- Latest ward telephone review: cough ↓; tiredness persists; no fever/breathlessness
- Consultant review: no further antibiotics needed
- GP recovery review booked 06/11
- Consultant: no repeat cultures requested
Communication and follow-up
- Pt told incorrect bloodstream infection result before discharge
- Pt not yet informed of correction
- Ward doctor to telephone pt today: explain correction + apologise
- Ward retains responsibility for contacting pt
- GP: mark bacteraemia claim withdrawn in record; retain pneumonia diagnosis
- GP: acknowledge receipt of update via secure ward message
- Original admission observations filed; GP already has full discharge medication list
- Pt complained about ward meals
Who is reading, and what do they need?
Dr Carolina Dejesus is the patient’s GP and has already received the original discharge summary and full medication list. She needs the incorrect conclusion withdrawn, the verified findings explained, and a clear request to amend her record and acknowledge receipt. The ward will explain the correction to the patient.
What to include
Selection is the skill the Content and Conciseness criteria reward. These notes earn their place:
| Case note | Why it belongs |
|---|---|
| 03/11 discharge summary incorrectly stated pneumococcal bacteraemia. | Identifies the exact conclusion being retracted so the GP can correct the existing record. |
| Laboratory confirms positive culture belonged to another patient; report formally withdrawn. | Explains why the reported bloodstream infection is being withdrawn rather than described as resolved. |
| Patient’s own blood cultures: final no growth; no causative organism established. | Provides the verified microbiology replacing the erroneous organism-specific conclusion. |
| Community-acquired pneumonia diagnosis retained, supported by symptoms and chest X-ray. | Separates the continuing pneumonia diagnosis from the withdrawn bacteraemia conclusion. |
| Corrected laboratory report and amended discharge summary attached. | Useful to mention so the GP can locate the replacement documents. |
| Ward doctor to telephone patient today: explain correction and apologise. | Makes clear that the ward will inform the patient and that this conversation is still planned. |
| GP: mark bacteraemia claim withdrawn in record; retain pneumonia diagnosis. | Specifies the record amendment needed without removing the supported pneumonia diagnosis. |
| GP: acknowledge receipt of update via secure ward message. | Tells the GP how to confirm that the correction has reached her. |
What to leave out or compress
| Case note | Why it goes |
|---|---|
| Lives with wife, independent, and enjoys restoring bicycles. | These domestic and leisure details do not affect the correction or continuing care. |
| Wife works part-time. | Her employment does not affect patient contact or the GP’s record amendment. |
| Hypertension; established treatment known to GP. | The GP already manages this condition, and no related change is proposed. |
| Appendicectomy in 1994; no known drug allergies. | Neither detail explains the error or changes the documented treatment plan. |
| Filed admission observations; GP already has the full discharge medication list. | Repeating information already available would distract from the correction. |
| Patient complained about ward meals. | This complaint is unrelated to the incorrect result or the requested action. |
A paragraph plan for this case
Open with the patient’s identifiers, the incorrect conclusion being withdrawn and the laboratory explanation. Give the verified blood culture findings and distinguish them from the retained pneumonia diagnosis. Add selected recovery or treatment information if useful. Close with the ward’s planned explanation and apology, followed by the requests for GP record correction and acknowledgement of receipt.
Where candidates slip on this task
- The patient has not yet heard the correction. Describe the ward doctor’s call as planned; do not imply that disclosure has already occurred or ask the GP to take over contact.
- If discussing treatment, state that the antibiotic course was completed before discharge and that the consultant advises no further antibiotics. The repeat-culture detail is optional.
- Final blood cultures showing no growth do not exclude pneumonia. Retain the diagnosis supported by the symptoms and chest X-ray without repeating every admission or recovery finding.
No model letter is published here. Write for the named reader from the case notes in the timed editor, then get it marked.
Write it in the timed editor and get marked on the 6 criteria
More Medicine letter tasks
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Your profession's guide: OET Medicine. Layout and structure: OET letter format.
Questions about this task
How much of the admission history belongs in this correction update?
Give enough context to distinguish the retained pneumonia diagnosis from the withdrawn bacteraemia conclusion. Symptoms and chest X-ray support can be compressed. Select recovery or treatment details that help the GP continue care; a full admission narrative is unnecessary.
Who informs the patient, and what must the GP acknowledge?
The ward doctor will telephone the patient today to explain the correction and apologise. The GP should mark the bacteraemia claim as withdrawn, retain the pneumonia diagnosis and acknowledge receipt of the update by secure message to the ward.
Sources
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