scholarly journals Improving accessebility to psychiatry in NHS Tayside

BJPsych Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (S1) ◽  
pp. S204-S204
Author(s):  
Thomas Leung ◽  
Lori-an Etherington ◽  
Neil Stevenson

AimsOur aim is to improve the accessibility of Psychiatry to other specialties when being contacted for review and advice, both in hours and out of hours.BackgroundFrom clinical contact and informal conversations, other specialties sometimes have difficulties contacting psychiatry for advice/review. The aim of this is quality improvement project is to determine how accessible we are to other specialties and work on improving how we communicate with the general hospital.MethodWe created a questionnaire for colleagues from other specialties to fill in from 26/9/19 for 6 weeks. We gathered information regarding their grade, work site, previous contact with psychiatry, whether they knew where to find our contact information and if they could identify the correct method to ask for advice from general adult psychiatry (GAP), Psychiatry of old age (POA) , and out of hours psychiatry (OOH). We also asked colleagues to put in free text comments regarding their experience in contacting psychiatry. We also asked if our colleagues were aware of how to perform an Emergency Detention Certificate as this is advice we sometimes give which does not always need our input immediately.ResultThere was a total of 39 responses, 29 from Ninewells Hospital (NW) and 10 from Perth Royal Infirmary (PRI). There was a mixture of staff grades from Foundation Doctors to Consultants. 23/39 colleagues knew where to find contact information for Psychiatry, 14/39 colleagues correctly answered how to contact GAP (Phone), 15/39 colleagues correctly answered how to contact POA (Email), 15/39 colleagues correctly identified who to contact OOH, and 16/34 colleagues who could do emergency detentions (FY2+) knew how to do one. Free text comments often referred back to the difficulty of finding the right grade of staff first try, Feedback from PRI where there was no dedicated Liaison Service and relies on a duty doctor system was less positive, with terms ‘tricky’, ‘difficulty’, ‘awkward’ used in majority of responses.ConclusionFrom our results we can conclude that contacting Psychiatry in NHS Tayside can be confusing for other specialties. Taking this forward, we will utilize the ‘referral finder’ system in NHS Tayside and review the existing information available, and to update the contact information for our subspecialties to make contact ourselves more streamlined and accessible. We will also review appropriate clinical protocols that we can link to our page on referral finder to help save time for our colleagues as well.

2021 ◽  
Vol 108 (Supplement_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
L Lee ◽  
A MacLeod ◽  
A Bradley

Abstract Introduction Accurate patient documentation at the ARU is vital to patient safety and ensuring smooth handovers to secondary care services. Because the nature of surgical treatment requires frequent patient handovers, and this increases the risk of miscommunication, we aimed to assess the quality of surgical clerk-ins and identify areas for improvement. Method Emergency admissions at the Dumfries Galloway Royal Infirmary were audited, looking at documentation quality under various clerk-in sections. Data was analysed before presentation to clinical governance. Results When 46 patient clerk-ins were examined, venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis plans were performed in only 24% of admissions - less than 1 in 4 patients. Comparing out-of-hours and in-hours patient documentation, much higher omission rates were identified in the out-of-hours documentation: in systemic enquiry (42 vs 100%) and family history (31% vs 66%). Conclusions These results brought to attention the effect of hospital admission timing on patient documentation quality, and the lack of VTE prophylaxis planning. In surgery, these plans are key to minimising risk of avoidable thromboembolic complications. A departmental meeting was convened to stress the importance of accurate and comprehensive clerk-ins to ARU doctors. Future audits could explore the factors influencing documentation quality for out-of-hours admissions, and ways to address these issues.


Rheumatology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 60 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fajer A Altamimi ◽  
Una Martin

Abstract Background/Aims  Telemedicine can be broadly defined as the use of telecommunication technologies to provide medical information and services. It can be audio, visual, or text. Its use has increased dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure patient and healthcare worker safety. Any healthcare professional can engage with it. It carries benefits like reduced stress and expense of traveling, maintenance of social distancing, and reduced risk of infection. There are some potential drawbacks such as lack of physical examination, liability and technological issues. Methods  A questionnaire was sent to 200 patients, selected from different virtual clinics (new and review, doctor and ANP led) run between March and May 2020 in the rheumatology department of University Hospital Waterford. We formulated 14 questions to cover the following aspects: demography, the purpose of the consult, punctuality, feedback, medico-legal concerns, and free text for comments. A self-addressed return envelope was included. Results  83 responses were received. 2 were excluded. The ratio of females to male respondents was 59: 41, with the majority over 60 years old. The main appointment type was review 67 (83%). 80% of patients were called either before or at the time of their scheduled appointment. The vast majority (98.8%) of our patients had confidence in our data protection and trusted our system to maintain their confidentiality. 95% stated that they felt comfortable, were given enough time to explain their health problem and felt free from stress. The respondents who preferred attending the clinic in person (17 in total) compared to the virtual were mostly follow up patients- 12 vs. 5 new. Conclusion  Patient satisfaction among those surveyed was high, despite having to introduce the service abruptly during the COVID-19 pandemic. There are many improvements we can adopt to improve our service and even maintain after the pandemic as a way of communicating with our stable patients. As we are covering a large geographical catchment, we can continue to implement the virtual clinic for some appointments. We should prioritize our efforts on identifying the right patient and the type of service we can offer, further training of staff, and increasing awareness of the patients as to how to get the most out of a virtual appointment. Disclosure  F.A. Altamimi: None. U. Martin: None. C. Sheehy: None.


2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 166-171
Author(s):  
Stefan Morreel ◽  
Hilde Philips ◽  
Annelies Colliers ◽  
Veronique Verhoeven

Background Patients in Belgium needing out-of-hours care have two options: the emergency department or the general practitioner on call often organised in a general practitioner cooperative. Currently, there is no triage system in Belgium so patients do not know where to go. Methods Our primary objective was to examine the ability of a newly developed telephone guideline, called 1733, to adequately estimate the urgency of health problems presented by simulated patients. Ten clinical vignettes were presented to 12 operators in a simulated phone call. The operators had to assign a protocol, urgency level and resource to dispatch (ambulance, general practitioner house visit, etc.) to each case. Results A total of 120 phone calls were analysed. The operators chose the right protocol in 69% and the correct urgency level in 35% of the cases. The proportion of under- and over-triage was 26% and 39%, respectively. There was important variation in between the operators. The sensitivity for detecting highly urgent cases was 0.42, the specificity 0.92. Conclusion Using the new Belgian 1733 guideline for telephone triage, operators mostly chose the appropriate protocol but only chose the correct urgency in one out of three cases. In this phase of development, the studied telephone guideline is not ready for implementation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Lawler ◽  
Katrina Maclaine ◽  
Alison Leary

Abstract Background This study aims to understand how the implementation of the advanced clinical practice framework in England (2017) was experienced by the workforce to check assumptions for a national workforce modelling project. The advanced clinical practice framework was introduced in England in 2017 by Health Education England to clarify the role of advanced practice in the National Health Service. Methods As part of a large-scale workforce modelling project, a self-completed questionnaire was distributed via the Association of Advanced Practice Educators UK aimed at those studying to be an Advanced Clinical Practitioner or who are practicing at this level in order to check assumptions. Semi-structured phone interviews were carried out with this same group. Questionnaires were summarised using descriptive statistics in Excel for categorical responses and interviews and survey free-text were analysed using thematic analysis in NVivo 10. Results The questionnaire received over 500 respondents (ten times that expected) and 15 interviews were carried out. Advanced clinical practice was considered by many respondents the only viable clinical career progression. Respondents felt that employers were not clear about what practicing at this level involved or its future direction. 54% (287) thought that ‘ACP’ was the right job title for them. 19% (98) of respondents wanted their origin registered profession to be included in their title. Balancing advanced clinical practice education concurrently with a full-time role was challenging, participants underestimated the workload and expectations of employer’s training. There is an apparent dichotomy that has developed from the implementation of the 2017 framework: that of advanced clinical practice as an advanced level of practice within a profession, and that of Advanced Clinical Practitioner as a new generic role in the medical model. Conclusions Efforts to establish further clarity and structure around advanced clinical practice are needed for both the individuals practising at this level and their employers. A robust evaluation of the introduction of this role should take place.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna C. M. Geraedts ◽  
Meindert N. Sosef ◽  
Jan Willem M. Greve ◽  
Mechteld C. de Jong

Purpose. The impact of an out-of-hours laparoscopic cholecystectomy on outcome is controversial. We sought to determine the association between an out-of-hours procedure and postoperative complications within 90 days. Methods. Between 2014 and 2016, 1553 laparoscopic cholecystectomies were performed. Therapeutic, operative, and outcome data were prospectively collected and analyzed. We defined out of hours as during weekends, national holidays, and daily between 5PM and 8AM. Results. Most patients operated on were female (n=988; 63.6%) and the majority of procedures were electives (n=1341; 86.3%). Although all procedures were performed with a laparoscopic intent, 42 (2.7%) were converted to open procedure. In total, 145 (9.3%) procedures were out of hours, all nonelective, and in most cases for acute cholecystitis (n=111; 7.1%). Overall, there were 212 complications in 191 patients (12.3%), most (n=153; 9.9%) classified as minor. The conversion rate in the out-of-hours group was significantly higher (9.7% vs 2.0%; p<0.001). While univariate analyses revealed out-of-hours procedure (OR=1.83; p=0.008) to be associated with an increased risk of complications, when controlling for confounding factors by multivariate analysis, this association was not found. However, operation by surgical staff (OR=1.71) and conversion to laparotomy (OR=3.74) were found to be independently associated with an increased risk of complications (both p<0.05), while an emergency procedure tended to be associated with postoperative morbidity (OR=1.82; p=0.069). Conclusion. An out-of-hours laparoscopic cholecystectomy was not found to be an independent risk factor for developing postoperative morbidity and time of day should therefore only be a relative contraindication.


Author(s):  
Arkadiusz Januszweski

Changes that occur in the environment of a given company and a constantly growing competition make the managers enhance the management system. The managers consider which management-support methods and tools could appear effective in fighting competition and ensure the company’s survival or development. Introducing a new management method or tool is in general a complex project, incorporating many aspects and frequently calling for considerable changes in the company’s IT system. Taking up the right decision needs thorough consideration of all the factors supporting or rejecting the project. The decision-making process concerning the implementation of a specific method or tool should address the following questions: • Does, in a given company, there exist objective reasons for which the implementation of a given method would be recommended? • What are the possibilities existing in the company which would make the implementation success realistic? • What tangible benefits will be available due to the new method implementation, in other words, what is the effectiveness of the project? To cut a long story short, one shall determine whether the change is needed, whether it is possible, and whether it will be beneficial to the business. Replying to the third question, different kinds of investment project effectiveness evaluation methods are used, including the internal return rate (IRR) or the net present value (NPV). Their application for the management system improvement project, however, faces many difficulties and can be very time consuming. Yet, one shall remember that before an attempt is made at replying to the third question, positive answers to the first two questions must be given.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. e000974
Author(s):  
Luís Filipe Louro ◽  
Francisco Flores Fernández-Flores ◽  
Oscar Diaz-Delgado Bautista ◽  
Mark Senior

A 9-year-old Irish sports horse gelding was anaesthetised out-of-hours for management of digital flexor tendon sheath sepsis after a left hind foot penetration. In the postanaesthetic period, the patient manifested a right forelimb non-weight bearing lameness. Diagnostic imaging and serum biochemistry were unremarkable. The animal progressively deteriorated and became recumbent. After consultation with the owner, euthanasia was performed on welfare grounds. A postmortem examination was performed to establish the cause of the right forelimb lameness. After excluding all other probable causes of postanaesthetic lameness, it was concluded that the patient manifested a postanaesthetic compartmental syndrome due to haemorrhage associated with the ulnar nerve developed intraoperatively. This case report discusses factors associated with increased anaesthetic-related mortality in elective surgical procedures performed out-of-hours, other causes of postanaesthetic forelimb lameness and diagnosis of, and treatment options for, brachial compartment syndrome.


2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (10) ◽  
pp. e148
Author(s):  
Charlotte Richards ◽  
Sarah Girgis ◽  
Tom W.M. Walker ◽  
Catherine Wicks ◽  
Mark Singh
Keyword(s):  

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document