Sheffield Assessment Instrument for Letters - SAIL

This is the fifth issue of Tips on TREAT, but the first to be published in it’s new format as an article in the Training Tabloid.

TREAT is the Trainer-Registrar Education and Assessment Toolkit, an online collection of tools to help provide registrars with feedback about their performance across a range of areas. The website can be found at www.wentwest.com/treat

I’m still archiving these Tips on the blog at http://www.tipsontreat.blogspot.com/, so if you’ve missed any to date, then you’ll find previous tips there.

This month we feature the Sheffield Assessment Instrument for Letters (SAIL). It can be found here: http://www.wentwest.com/treat/index_files/Page734.htm

This tool is used to assess referral letters to other practitioners. It consists of a checklist of features which should be in an ideal letter, which you can score. There is also space for general comments.

The overall score has been validated as being discriminating (ie it distinguishes between good and bad letters) and reproducible (ie the same letter will score the same with different scorers or at different times). It’s worth remembering, though, that the most value from this tool is gained from the discussion that arises from using the tool. Suggested questions might be:
· “What did you score well on?”
· “What did you not score well on?”
· “Why is that important?”
· “What could you do to improve that letter?”

The tool can be used to assess one letter, or several, to find out whether there is a pattern. It could be used on selected letters, or letters could be chosen at random.

A powerful way of using the tool would be to allow the registrar to score one of the supervisor’s letters as well, allowing role-modelling of improving your own practice (unless they’re already perfect, of course!) You could also have some fun scoring hospital and specialist letters you receive, to discuss how crucial the information they contain really is.

There is more information in the tool itself, and a reference to the original article in the journal Medical Education on the TREAT website.

What now?
Print out a few copies of the SAIL, and use part of a tutorial to go through some letters, and just have a go!

As always, feel free to send suggestions and feedback to me here at Wentwest.