PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Sukhneet Randhawa
AU  - Helena Boryslawskyj
AU  - Santana-Vaz Natasha
AU  - Sharma Pooja
AU  - Biman Chakraborty
AU  - Jumaa Bwika
AU  - Manahil Abdelhalim
AU  - Kirstie Morley
AU  - Rahul Mukherjee
TI  - Outpatient follow up of discharges following acute hospital admission requiring non-invasive ventilation (NIV)
DP  - 2014 Sep 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - P2093
VI  - 44
IP  - Suppl 58
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/44/Suppl_58/P2093.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/44/Suppl_58/P2093.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2014 Sep 01; 44
AB  - IntroductionOutpatient follow up rates are a national metric for acute NIV services in the UK (Davies M. Adult NIV Audit report 2012. BTS Reports 2012. 4 (3): 9-10.) Also, the number of re-admissions is a determinant of health status. We analyse the proportion of live discharges that were offered respiratory follow up within 6 months of all patients requiring Acute NIV during the calendar year 2009 and first 6 months of 2013 at our 709-bedded acute Central England hospital.MethodsInformation was sought from the acute NIV database maintained continuously since 2004, electronic discharge summaries and clinic letters. The chi-squared test was performed for statistical significance of differences.ResultsThe proportion of unique live discharges offered a follow up appointment at the time of discharge improved from 57% (62/107) in 2009 to 80% (36/45) in 2013: p=0.009. The proportion of patients attending follow-up appointments increased from 40% (42/107) in 2009 to 58% (26/45) in 2013: p=0.036, confirming a statistically significant improvement. The number of acute NIV re-admissions slightly dropped between 2009 and 2013.Conclusions The increase in the number of patients attending follow up is likely due to the increase in the number being offered follow up, an improvement explained by upskilling of the multidisciplinary team and introduction of the rapid access 'HUB' clinic in Oct 2011. The responsive HUB would also be a plausible explanation for the slight drop in acute NIV re-admissions between the 2 periods, reflecting its ability to offer a safety net for patients who are often recurrent re-admissions and keep them well in the community.