OET WRITING

You may be a nurse, doctor, pharmacist, physiotherapist or optometrist but this page and all its 12 pages are for you. Although this
page focuses more on Nursing, it has almost all that you need – formats, vocabulary, passive voice, tense, connectors, corrections
and a number of new phrases you can try in your referral letters.

Many medical professionals have said that this website’s content is a treasure for them because it is simple, constantly updated and
of course, FREE.

Who should Read This Page?

 If you do not know that “The patient has been adviced” is

incorrect, this page is yours.

 If you still think that the comma in “I am writing this letter to

refer Ms Abigael, who is being discharged…” is okay, you should read this page.

 If you think that “the patient was undergone” is a correct usage,

you can’t skip this page.

 If you think that Ms Roy and her baby are equally important in
the sentence, “Ms Roy as well her baby needs your service,” you cannot proceed to self preparation without this page.

 If you think that there is no difference between “She was

commenced” and “She commenced,” take a break and start reading this page today.

Kinds of OET Letters

Most of the OET Letters are referral letters although a very few are addressed to the patient’s relatives such as spouses or parents.
In most cases, a medical professional writes a referral letter with a request to take care of the patient who is being discharged. Here
is a situation:

 You are a nurse and Mr Albin has been your patient since he
was admitted on 12th March, that is, a month ago.

 He has improved a lot since his admission and tomorrow he is

being discharged. Mr Albin has strongly recommended sending him home but his doctor has advised him to continue his
medicines for a month in a care centre.

 As Mr Albin is very old and has memory failure, you (the nurse
in-charge) think that it is better to send a nurse who could take care of Mr Albin.

 Unfortunately, your hospital doesn’t provide nurses for home-

care so you have to find another solution.

 You have been told that Aster Home Care is a reputed nursing
agency that arranges nurses for home-care.

 Upon your experience and consideration, you decide to write a

referral letter to Aster Home Care to send a nurse to Mr Albin’s home.

OET PARTS OF LETTER

1. Address Lines
The Director

Community Child Health Service

41 Jones Street – Ekibin.

Ms Edith Mehbooba

OR

Head Psychiatrist

Mind It Care & Service

Park Road, Adelaide

OR

Mr Ivan Stallone

Physiotherapist

MMC Hospital

2. Date

25 July, 2009

30th March, 2018

3. Subject

Ref: Master Vamuge Obeki, DOB: 23 May, 2005

Re: Mr Oliver Ghosh, 28 years

4. Salutation

Dear Ms Steven

Dear Dr Smith

Dear Mr Sainuddhin

5. Introduction

Referral Letter

I am writing to request follow-up care for Master Vamuga and his family from your facility. He is due to be discharged today.

Request Letter

I am writing to request an emergency admission for Mrs Olsen who requires further support and management from your facility.
She is presented with us since December 2007.

Discharge Letter

This is in connection with the discharge of Ms Venora Arizona, a patient for the last fifteen days who has undergone multiple
surgeries. She is ready to be discharged in two days.

Information

All parents are informed of a sudden outbreak of dengue fever and subsequent body pain that is rampant in the city. As many of
our students have been diagnosed positive by our resident doctor, parents are advised to follow the instructions given below.

6. Admission History

Master Vamuga was admitted to the Children’s Emergency Department on 15 July, 2009 with acute meningoencephalitis as a
complication of mumps.

Ms Thompson was admitted to our hospital three days ago after she had fallen on rocks and injured her leg and foot. In addition
to this, she underwent routine blood investigations and wound-swab to check for infection and hydrosol dressing for minimising
exudation.

Ms. Tracy was presented to the hospital on 19 September 2009. During admission, she was suffering from severe pain and
tingling sensation because of the damaged nerve fibres in the spinal cord. Consequently, she developed loss of movement along
with bladder and bowel incontinence. Sadly, her body balance and walking ability also impaired.

7. Medical History

Worthy to note, the patient has had diabetes for the past two years and got admitted in the hospital due to high blood pressure in
1992.

8. Diagnosis and Treatment

Presently Ms Tracy is recovering well and she can walk with the help of her daughter. Except for her irregular back-pain, the
patient is doing well.

9. Nursing Management

At present, she is recovering well and her vital signs are all within normal limits. She is being assisted for activities of daily living
and her wound site is being kept clean and dry as well.

10. Social History

Master Vamuga lives with his parents in a rental house. His father, Mr Abdullah Obeki is an employee at Golden Circle pineapple
factory and his mother, Mrs Miri, is a housewife. They are refugees arrived in Australia from Sudan in 2008 and have one more 2
year old child. In addition, they know only Dinka and Arabic. Now, Mr Obeki attends English classes and understands spoken
English. However, he has limited writing skill as they require a language interpreter.Master Vamuga’s parents state that both 9 had
some kind of vaccination at birth but the vaccination records has been lost.
 Looking at the patient’s social environment, Ms.Tracy is a widow and lives with her daughter.

11. Request

Kindly provide education to his parents regarding mumps vaccination schedules and recommended vaccines for both children.
Encourage them to do his neurological check up. Currently, he is stable and ready for discharge.His address is enclosed along with
this.

In view of the above circumstances, it would be greatly beneficial if you could arrange someone who can help this family. Kindly
help her for meeting hygienic needs as she is being affected with loss of bowel and bladder control. Your special attention is brought
to the point that you will have to do the needful to assist her in order to improve her mobility.

12. Request

If you have further queries,please do not hesitate to contact me.

13. Closing

Yours Sincerely,

Charge Nurse

OET LETTER ORGANIZING

To convert the case notes into a referral letter, you need to organize them into the following sections.

Whom are you writing to?

To a medical professional like a doctor, a physiotherapist, a nurse, etc.

To the patient’s next to kin like husband, wife, parents, children, etc.

Who are you referring / transferring / discharging?

A patient after operation, a patient on discharge, who needs further care.

Patient’s medical history

Date of admission

Initial diagnosis
 Tests & surgeries (MRI/CT/Operation)

Patient’s diagnosis and treatment.

What tests have been done to diagnose the patient.

What is the treatment regimen.

Nursing management.

How is the patient going to continue his further medication / treatment / follow up.

Patient’s social status

Widow/widower/divorced

Lives alone.

Use simple present or present perfect tenses.

What is your request?

Transfer, continued care, physiotherapist, social worker.

Who are you?

Charge nurse

Head nurse