A medical handover checklist for travelling or moving abroad

What a medical handover is

A medical handover is the information that lets a new doctor continue your care without starting again. Between two clinics in one city it travels by letter and shared record, and between countries it usually depends on what you carry and what you have arranged to be sent. NICE asks that whenever care moves from one setting to another, complete and accurate information about medicines is shared, ideally within 24 hours and by a secure route [1].

The same idea serves a long trip or a move abroad. The CDC advises travellers with long-term conditions to plan with their doctors 4 to 6 weeks before departure, which leaves time to arrange vaccines and any new medicine [2].

Your medicines list

An exact list of your medicines is the most useful part of any handover. NICE sets out what it should hold for each medicine, including the name, strength, form, dose, timing and what it is for, together with anything started or stopped recently and the reason [1]. Include medicines bought without a prescription and complementary products, which NICE counts as medicines too [1].

Write generic names as well as brand names, because brands differ from country to country, and the CDC suggests a doctor’s letter that lists medicines by generic name and dose [2]. Note the date of your last dose of any weekly or monthly medicine, such as an injection [1].

Rules for carrying medicine across borders differ. If you are not a UK resident, carry a letter showing the medicine was prescribed for you, bring no more than 3 months supply into the UK, and keep any controlled drug in your hand luggage [3]. When you leave the UK with a controlled drug, check the rules of the country you are going to with its embassy before you travel [3].

The handover checklist

Gather these before you go, and keep a copy on paper and another on your phone.

• A letter from your doctor on headed paper with your conditions, your medicines by generic name and dose, your allergies, any equipment you use and the doctor’s contact details [2]
• Every known drug allergy, with the reaction each one caused [1]
• Recent blood results with their dates and reference ranges, and scan reports with the images
• A short history of diagnoses, operations, hospital stays and any treatment abroad, with dates
• Your vaccination record, including any certificate your destination asks for
• The name and contact details of the doctor who will take over
• Enough medicine for the whole trip and several days more, in its original packaging and in your hand luggage [2]
• Copies in English, or translated, where the receiving doctor reads another language

Getting copies of your records

Ask for copies early, because gathering records is often the slowest step. In the UK you can ask any organisation for copies of the information it holds about you, and organisations usually have one month to respond [4]. Where an organisation relies on your consent or a contract to use your data, you can also ask for it in a commonly used, machine-readable format [5].

After treatment abroad, the CDC advises asking for your records in English and giving them to every doctor who sees you afterwards, together with a full account of the treatment you received during the trip [6].

Agreeing who sends what

A handover works best when both doctors know it is happening. Before you leave, agree who will send the letter and results and to whom, and give the receiving doctor’s details to the doctor handing over. NICE recommends secure electronic communication wherever it is possible [1].

Ask the receiving doctor to check your medicines list against what they prescribe. NICE calls this medicines reconciliation and, in general practice, expects it within 1 week of the information arriving after a move between care settings [1].

If you run short of a medicine abroad, a local pharmacist is the place to start, and many countries accept UK prescriptions [7].

Who needs a full handover

Anyone moving country or spending months away benefits from a full handover, and for a short trip a medicines list and a letter are usually enough. A fuller handover matters most if you take several medicines, live with a long-term condition such as diabetes or heart disease, are pregnant, or have had an operation or a new diagnosis in recent months.

A handover prepares the next doctor and cannot replace urgent care. If you become seriously unwell while travelling, call the local emergency number, or 999 in the UK [8].

How The Wellness can help

A GP appointment at our clinics on Baker Street in Marylebone or Eccleston Street in Belgravia, open from seven in the morning to nine at night every day, is the time to build your handover. The doctor goes through your medicines with you and writes the letter, and any blood test or prescription you need can be arranged before you fly. Every result and letter goes into one record you open from any country, and a doctor anywhere can read it [8].

Every doctor is GMC registered, and regulated services are delivered through registered partner clinics and accredited laboratories. When your care continues elsewhere, appointments can be arranged with partners in 12 more cities.