How To Structure An OET Letter (The Right Way!)

One of the most important first steps when taking the OET exam is to structure your letter correctly. This makes sure you have included all of the correct information and that you have presented it in a logical manner. So, what is the correct letter structure?

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Detailed information:

The top of your letter should include:

WHO we are writing TO and their address.

After this, you need to include the date. If there is an appropriate date cited in the case notes, use this. If not, use today’s date. For example: 12th February 2017 or 07/08/2018

Followed by “Dear RECIPIENT’S NAME,”

You should finally also follow this up with WHO your letter is REGARDING (Re:) and their DATE OF BIRTH/AGE.

For example: Re: John Smith, DOB: 04/03/1948 or Re: Mary Jones, aged 79 years.

The middle of your letter
The first paragraph should state: Why are you writing, patient name, date of event, hospital, medical condition and what type of letter is it?

There is no set rule of how to do this however you can find some examples below.

“I am writing regarding Mr Smith who is being discharged from London City Hospital on 01/01/2019 after a myocardial infarction.”

“I am contacting you in regards to Mr Lionel Ramamurthy who was admitted to Newton Hospital on May 20th 2019 with a provisional diagnosis of renal failure. I am referring this patient to your care for further treatment and investigation.”

DISCHARGE LETTER: The next paragraph should explain what happened to the patient when they were admitted. Did the patient have difficulty breathing? What were the symptoms? What were the results of tests?

TRANSFER LETTER: Similarly the second paragraph should include what happened to the patient. What symptoms do they have? What medication has been given?

REFERRAL LETTER: The second paragraph should include a timeline of what happened to the patient during the course of their treatment. For example, “The patient presented on 01/01/2018 with a history of a sore throat… Three weeks later this developed into…”

The end of your letter
OET Practice nurse test material
It is recommended that you practice writing a similar structure of letter each time.
In the next paragraph you should discuss any further relevant information that the recipient of the letter should know about. What is the patient’s medical history? Are they on any medication? What is their general progress?

Each paragraph of the next one or two paragraphs should have its own ‘theme’ or ideas, meaning one might be about the patient’s lifestyle while the other is about the patient’s medical history.

The final paragraph should explain any further tasks the recipient needs to undertake. Do they need to book the patient in for an appointment? Do they need to monitor his diet or blood sugar levels?

You should end your letter with:

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Yours sincerely…

(Your profession)