If convalescent leave is directed, the inpatient record is?

• A. Maintained on the ward until the patient returns to the ward or is discharged
• B. Forwarded to the clinic for reference during follow-up outpatient visits
• C. Forwarded to the disposition office and filled in the suspense file
• D. Forwarded to the inpatient records section for coding and filing

Answer: (C)

When a patient is on convalescent leave, they are not actively occupying the inpatient unit, so the record needs to be managed where pending actions can be tracked. Forwarding the inpatient record to the disposition office and placing it in the suspense file accomplishes this: the disposition office handles the next steps and final outcome (whether the patient returns to the ward, is discharged, or another disposition is reached), while the suspense file keeps the record accessible for that pending action without cluttering active inpatient files. This setup ensures accountability and follow-up without implying the patient remains an active ward case, and it avoids routing the record to outpatient clinics or leaving it in the ward.