Doctor-to-doctor handover for international patient transfer involving China

Who prepares the item

Identify treating and accepting clinicians with secure contact windows and the purpose of the call. Record its preparation date, version and authorised owner. If the treating team has not released it, do not reconstruct clinical facts from a family recollection.

Who needs it and when

Ask both sides to agree what clinical summary and equipment plan must travel with the patient. Separate what the airline requires from what the accepting clinician, road team and payer require. Share only the relevant material under the patient’s authority.

Use a two-way clinical contact

An emailed file cannot answer whether the destination team can provide a particular service at a given time. Arrange a direct exchange between sending and receiving clinicians with a defined question list: current support, anticipated transfer needs, acceptance conditions and what should trigger reassessment. The coordinator books the contact and records operational decisions, while clinicians communicate clinical detail through approved channels. If the destination changes, the earlier conversation should not be treated as acceptance by a different hospital.

A common failure point

An unanswered acceptance question should be escalated before the departure booking is treated as final. Check that the receiving person confirms access, rather than treating transmission as receipt. Keep a named person able to correct missing or contradictory information.

Decision if the item is incomplete

If clinicians cannot speak at the same time, obtain a structured question list from the receiving physician and have the sending physician respond through an approved secure channel. Track open questions separately from the transport timetable. The coordinator can confirm that a response was received, but a clinical disagreement belongs with those doctors and may keep the journey provisional.

Fit the document to the journey

Map the item to sending release, ground pickup, airline or airport assistance, arrival and care reception. A complete paperwork set cannot itself make the patient clinically suitable for travel or compel an airline or hospital to accept them. Recheck when the route or condition changes.

Decision pathway

Book a direct exchange between the sending and accepting clinicians around specific unresolved questions. Track whether the destination can receive the proposed support and at what time. If clinical acceptance is conditional, keep the transport plan provisional until those conditions are closed.

Information for a useful first enquiry

Names and secure contacts of both doctors, proposed arrival, current support and equipment, receiving acceptance questions, interpreter need and unanswered items.

For detailed clinical records, use a direct authorised exchange rather than this public page.