Admission avoidance in acute epistaxis: A prospective national audit during the initial peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

OBJECTIVES: To report changes in practice brought about by COVID-19 and the implementation of new guidelines, and to explore factors relating to unscheduled re-presentations for patients discharged from the emergency department (ED). DESIGN: Prospective multicentre national audit over 12 weeks from 6th April 2020. SETTING: UK secondary care ENT departments. PARTICIPANTS: Adult patients with acute epistaxis. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Re-presentation within 10 days for patients discharged from the ED. RESULTS: Eighty three centres from all four UK nations submitted 2631 valid cases. The majority of cases were ED referrals (89.7%, n = 2358/2631). 54.6% were discharged from the ED following ENT review (n = 1267/2322), of whom 19.5% re-presented within 10 days (n = 245/1259) and 6.8% were ultimately admitted (n = 86/1259). 46.7% of patients had a non-dissolvable pack inserted by ED prior to referral to ENT (n = 1099/2355). The discharge rates for ED patients and their subsequent re-presentation rates were as follows: non-dissolvable packs, 29.5% discharged (n = 332/1125), 18.2% re-presented (n = 60/330); dissolvable products, 71.1% discharged (n = 488/686), 21.8% re-presented (n = 106/486); cautery only, 89.2% discharged (n = 247/277), 20.0% re-presented (n = 49/245); and no intranasal intervention, 85.5% discharged (n = 200/234), 15.2% re-presented (n = 30/198). Univariable logistic regression showed that not being packed by ED, antiplatelet medications, failed cautery and recent epistaxis treatment were significant predictors of re-presentation within 10 days. CONCLUSIONS: Management of acute epistaxis was notably affected during the initial peak of the pandemic, with a shift towards reduced admissions. This national audit highlights that many patients who may previously have been admitted to hospital may be safely discharged from the ED following acute epistaxis.

Society for Acute Medicine Benchmarking Audit 2021 (SAMBA21): assessing national performance of acute medicine services.

INTRODUCTION: The Society for Acute Medicine Benchmarking Audit 2021 (SAMBA21) took place on 17th June 2021, providing the first assessment of performance against the Society for Acute Medicine's Clinical Quality Indicators (CQIs) within acute medical units since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: All acute hospitals in the UK were invited to participate. Data were collected on unit structure, and for patients admitted to acute medicine services over a 24-hour period, with follow-up at 7 days. RESULTS: 158 units participated in SAMBA21, from 156 hospitals. 8973 patients were included. The number of admissions per unit had increased compared to SAMBA19 (Sign test p<0.005). An early warning score was recorded within 30 minutes of hospital arrival in 77.4% of patients. 87.4% of unplanned admissions were seen by a tier 1 clinician within 4 hours of arrival. Overall, the medical team performed the initial clinician assessment for 36.4% of unplanned medical admissions. More than a third of medical admissions had their initial assessment in Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) in 25.4% of hospitals. 62.1% of unplanned admissions were seen by two other clinical decision makers prior to consultant review. Of those unplanned admissions requiring consultant review, 67.8% were seen within the target time. More than a third of unplanned admissions were discharged the same day in 41.8% of units. CONCLUSION: Performance against the CQIs for acute medicine was maintained in comparison to previous rounds of SAMBA, despite increased admissions. There remains considerable variation in unit structure and performance within acute medical services.

Efficacy and safety of antimicrobial stewardship prospective audit and feedback in patients hospitalized with COVID-19: A protocol for a pragmatic clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: The use of broad-spectrum antibiotics is widespread in patients with COVID-19 despite a low prevalence of bacterial co-infection, raising concerns for the accelerated development of antimicrobial resistance. Antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) is vital but there are limited randomized clinical trial data supporting AMS interventions such as prospective audit and feedback (PAF). High quality data to demonstrate safety and efficacy of AMS PAF in hospitalized COVID-19 patients are needed. METHODS AND DESIGN: This is a prospective, multi-center, non-inferiority, pragmatic randomized clinical trial evaluating AMS PAF intervention plus standard of care (SOC) versus SOC alone. We include patients with microbiologically confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection requiring hospital admission for severe COVID-19 pneumonia. Eligible ward beds and critical care unit beds will be randomized prior to study commencement at each participating site by computer-generated allocation sequence stratified by intensive care unit versus conventional ward in a 1:1 fashion. PAF intervention consists of real time review of antibacterial prescriptions and immediate written and verbal feedback to attending teams, performed by site-based AMS teams comprised of an AMS pharmacist and physician. The primary outcome is clinical status at post-admission day 15 measured using a 7-point ordinal scale. Patients will be followed for secondary outcomes out to 30 days. A total of 530 patients are needed to show a statistically significant non-inferiority, with 80% power and 2.5% one-sided alpha assuming standard deviation of 2 and the non-inferiority margin of 0.5. DISCUSSION: This study protocol presents a pragmatic clinical trial design with small unit cluster randomization for AMS intervention in hospitalized COVID-19 that will provide high-level evidence and may be adopted in other clinical situations. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study is being performed at the University of Alberta and is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04896866) on May 17, 2021.

The effects of trained observers (dofficers) and audits during a facility-wide COVID-19 outbreak: A mixed-methods quality improvement analysis.

BACKGROUND: In response to a facility-wide COVID-19 outbreak, our tertiary acute care hospital implemented an evidence-based bundle of infection control practices including the use of audits and trained observers "dofficers" to provide real-time constructive feedback. METHODS: We trained furloughed staff to perform the role of dofficer. They offered support and corrective feedback on proper PPE use and completed 21-point audits during a 4-week intervention period. Audits tracked appropriate signage, placement and availability of supplies (equipment), correct PPE use, enhanced environmental cleaning, along with cohorting and social distancing rates. Audit data was used to provide weekly quality improvement reports to units. RESULTS: Nine hundred and sixty two separate audits recorded 36,948 observations, over 7,696 observer-hours. The most common errors were with environmental cleaning and PPE use; the least common were with regards to equipment availability and cohorting and social distancing. Mean error rates decreased from 9.81% to 2.88% (P < .001). The largest reduction, 22.57%, occurred in the category of PPE doffing errors. CONCLUSIONS: Dofficer led audits effectively identified areas for improvement. Feedback through weekly reports and real-time correction of PPE errors by dofficers led to statistically significant improvements; however, error rates remained high. Further research is needed establish if these relationships are causal.

The number of patients "worse than death" while waiting for a hip or knee arthroplasty has nearly doubled during the COVID-19 pandemic.

AIMS: The aim of this study was to assess the quality of life of patients on the waiting list for a total hip (THA) or knee arthroplasty (KA) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Secondary aims were to assess whether length of time on the waiting list influenced quality of life and rate of deferral of surgery. METHODS: During the study period (August and September 2020) 843 patients (THA n = 394, KA n = 449) from ten centres in the UK reported their EuroQol five dimension (EQ-5D) scores and completed a waiting list questionnaire (2020 group). Patient demographic details, procedure, and date when listed were recorded. Patients scoring less than zero for their EQ-5D score were defined to be in a health state "worse than death" (WTD). Data from a retrospective cohort (January 2014 to September 2017) were used as the control group. RESULTS: The 2020 group had a significantly worse EQ-5D score compared to the control group for both THA (p < 0.001) and KA (p < 0.001). Over one-third (35.0%, n = 138/394) of patients waiting for a THA and nearly a quarter (22.3%, n = 100/449) for KA were in a health state WTD, which was significantly greater than the control group (odds ratio 2.30 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.83 to 2.93) and 2.08 (95% CI 1.61 to 2.70), respectively; p < 0.001). Over 80% (n = 680/843) of the 2020 group felt that their quality of life had deteriorated while waiting. Each additional month spent on the waiting list was independently associated with a decrease in quality of life (EQ-5D: -0.0135, p = 0.004). There were 117 (13.9%) patients who wished to defer their surgery and the main reason for this was health concerns for themselves and or their family (99.1%, n = 116/117). CONCLUSION: Over one-third of patients waiting for THA and nearly one-quarter waiting for a KA were in a state WTD, which was approaching double that observed prior to the pandemic. Increasing length of time on the waiting list was associated with decreasing quality of life. Level of evidence: Level III retrospective case control study Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2021;103-B(4):672-680.

A multidisciplinary evaluation of suspected, non-confirmed cases of COVID-19 including chest CT, as compared to World Health Organization recommendations.

AIM: To report an audit of the evaluation of suspected, unconfirmed cases of COVID-19 including chest computed tomography (CT), as compared to World Health Organization recommendations. METHODS: A clinical audit was undertaken examining the evaluation of patients with suspected COVID-19 with negative SARS-CoV-2 reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) results, with comparison to WHO recommendations. A retrospective chart review was undertaken for 90 patients examining investigations, in particular CT, used to clarify the diagnosis. RESULTS: Ninety patients underwent additional investigation. Seventy-five per cent adherence to WHO recommendations was observed. Fifty-two men (57.78%) and 38 (42.22%) women were investigated, with a median age of 69 years (range 20-96 years). Seventy-nine chest CT examinations demonstrated positive, indeterminate, and negative rates for COVID-19 of 3.79%, 24.1%, and 72.15% respectively. Three patients had discordant swab results with initially negative and subsequently positive results for SARS-CoV-2, resulting in false-negative rates of 5.1% for those retested. Combining discordant RT-PCR swab results, positive radiology, and patients treated as COVID-19-positive due to indeterminate radiology and highly consistent symptoms, resulted in a false-negative rate for initial SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR swabs of 16.67%. CONCLUSION: Seventy-five per cent compliance with relevant WHO guidance and a false-negative rate for initial swabs of 16.67% was demonstrated. Further evidence is needed to fully determine the utility of chest CT in the diagnosis of COVID-19 in the context of initial false-negative RT-PCR results.

Restructuring emergency eye services during COVID-19 in a tertiary referral centre.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Maintaining emergency eye services is crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic. This article describes the introduction of a new restructured referral pathway to reduce the burden on healthcare providers and create a safe environment. METHODS: During January and February 2020 (group 1), all appointments were face-to-face with a walk-in eye casualty. The first audit cycle comprised all patients in group 1. The primary audit criteria were discharge rates, referral to subspeciality and reattendance. In April 2020, a remodelled system was implemented in which walk-in attendance ceased and was replaced with telephone triage coupled with digital imaging via NHS email for remote clinical review. Patients requiring further assessment following this triage were invited in for face-to-face appointments. A reaudit was conducted during April-July 2020 (group 2) following implementation of these COVID-19 protocol changes. RESULTS: In group 1, 2868 appointments (100.0%) were face-to-face and in group 2 4870 (100.0%) appointments were telephone consults that resulted in 2639 (54.2%) face-to-face appointments. The rate of discharge in the first cycle and second cycle were 55.3% and 76.9% respectively (P<0.0001). Furthermore 2298 (47.2%) patients were able to be discharged following telephone consultation in group 2. CONCLUSIONS: Using this telephone and digital imaging review triage system, the authors have demonstrated a significant reduction in the need for face-to-face reviews. The reduction in avoidable patient face-to-face reviews allows the system to move from saturated to sustainable while increasing accessibility to services for patients who may not be able to present for face-to-face review. This complete audit cycle successfully charts interventions that maximise accessibility, reduce unnecessary hospital visits and deliver safe and prompt management during the pandemic.

[A&F in EASY-NET: a bridge between clinicians and epidemiologists for a more virtuous exchange of information.] / A&F in EASY-NET: un ponte tra clinici ed epidemiologi per un più virtuoso scambio informativo.

The first of a series of four online meetings entitled "A&F CONNECTIONS. In practice and in response to Covid-19", as part of the EASY-NET network program on the topic of Audit & Feedback (A&F), was an opportunity to present and discuss the first results of a survey carried out by the area working on A&F, to describe the characteristics of A&F interventions in the EASY-NET context. A reflection on the preliminary results of the investigation and on the cultural dimension of the importance of creating a bridge between the world of clinicians and the world of epidemiology, for a real and virtuous exchange of information.

Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic on the Incidence and Management of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest in Patients Presenting With Acute Myocardial Infarction in England.

Background Studies have reported significant reduction in acute myocardial infarction-related hospitalizations during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. However, whether these trends are associated with increased incidence of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in this population is unknown. Methods and Results Acute myocardial infarction hospitalizations with OHCA during the COVID-19 period (February 1-May 14, 2020) from the Myocardial Ischaemia National Audit Project and British Cardiovascular Intervention Society data sets were analyzed. Temporal trends were assessed using Poisson models with equivalent pre-COVID-19 period (February 1-May 14, 2019) as reference. Acute myocardial infarction hospitalizations during COVID-19 period were reduced by >50% (n=20 310 versus n=9325). OHCA was more prevalent during the COVID-19 period compared with the pre-COVID-19 period (5.6% versus 3.6%), with a 56% increase in the incidence of OHCA (incidence rate ratio, 1.56; 95% CI, 1.39-1.74). Patients experiencing OHCA during COVID-19 period were likely to be older, likely to be women, likely to be of Asian ethnicity, and more likely to present with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction. The overall rates of invasive coronary angiography (58.4% versus 71.6%; P<0.001) were significantly lower among the OHCA group during COVID-19 period with increased time to reperfusion (mean, 2.1 versus 1.1 hours; P=0.05) in those with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction. The adjusted in-hospital mortality probability increased from 27.7% in February 2020 to 35.8% in May 2020 in the COVID-19 group (P<.001). Conclusions In this national cohort of hospitalized patients with acute myocardial infarction, we observed a significant increase in incidence of OHCA during COVID-19 period paralleled with reduced access to guideline-recommended care and increased in-hospital mortality.

Incorporating SPACES recommendations to the COVID-19 ward care approach at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital.

The British Thoracic Society have published SPACES (Sharing Patient Assessments Cuts Exposure for Staff) guidance recommending the use of telecommunications as a means of inpatient clinical assessment during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this audit was to reduce face-to-face exposure time during inpatient care of patients with suspected/confirmed COVID-19 using a telecommunications-based approach. 76 patients were included in the audit. 46 patients were included in cycle 1, which measured the average face-to-face time for clinical consultation per patient. 30 patients were included in cycle 2, whereby history-taking was conductedusing telecommunications and, if required, face-to-face physical examination.Average face-to-face exposure time was reduced to a median of 0 seconds (IQR 0-146.3 seconds) in the telecommunications group, from a median of 312.5 seconds (IQR 178.8-442.3 seconds) in the comparator group (p<0.0001). Patient satisfaction was high with individuals' responses revealing a perception of improved safety by maintaining social distancing. No adverse events were noted.The audit confirms telecommunications can be integrated successfully into the daily inpatient ward round structure, reducing face-to-face exposure time while maintaining patient satisfaction and safety.

[Audit and Feedback approach in the CoViD-19 emergency: adaptation of the EASY-NET project in the AOU Città della Salute e della Scienza of Turin.] / Audit e Feedback nell'emergenza CoViD-19: adattamento del progetto EASY-NET nell'AOU Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino.

CoViD-19 pandemic heavily impacted most on-going research activities, causing delays and need of re-programming. EASY-NET (NET-2016-02364191) is a network project, started in April 2019, co-funded by the Italian Ministry of Health and the participating regions. Within the general project, centred on the evaluation of Audit and Feedback (A&F) strategies in improving quality and equity in different health care contexts, the Piedmont region is responsible of the work package 3 (WP3) on specific oncology pathways and procedures. After a thorough evaluation of the impact of the CoViD-19 emergency on the WP3 activities, at the beginning of March 2020, the decision was to continue, with some adaptations, the audits already started, and to delay those in the early planning phase. The provisional availability of part of the time-persons involved in EASY-NET on one side, and the urgency of acquiring data on the management of the large number of CoViD-19 patients admitted to the study coordinator hospital on the other side, determined the personnel responsible of the WP3, in accordance with the hospital management, to invest these resources in monitoring the CoViD-19 hospitalized patients with both A&F activity and research objectives. Besides periodic reports, a web site, with restricted access to the involved health care personnel, was developed to allow a direct and timely consultation of graphics describing the flow of the patients, their management, and outcomes. This experience was made possible thanks to a favourable combination of different factors: the presence within the hospital of a group of experienced epidemiologists in A&F, the availability of extra resources, the strong support and collaboration by the hospital management and the readiness for authorisation by the Ethics Committee. We underline the need to provide a certain degree of flexibility in the long-term projects funded by the Ministry of Health, the extraordinary adaptability of the A&F approach also to emergency situations and the possibility of combining audit activities and research objectives in the same project.

The success of virtual clinics during COVID-19: A closed loop audit of the British orthopaedic association (BOAST) guidelines of outpatient orthopaedic fracture management.

COVID-19 has had profound management implications for orthopaedic management due to balancing patient outcomes with clinical safety and limited resources. The BOAST guidelines on outpatient orthopaedic fracture management took a pragmatic approach. At Great Western Hospital, Swindon, a closed loop audit was performed looking at a selection of these guidelines, to assess if our initial changes were sufficient and what could be improved. METHOD: An audit was designed around fracture immobilisation, type of initial fracture clinic assessment, default virtual follow up clinic and late imaging. Interventions were implemented and re-audited. RESULTS: Initially 223 patients were identified over 4 weeks. Of these, 100% had removable casts and 99% did not have late imaging. 96% of patients were initially assessed virtually or had initial orthopaedic approval to be seen in face to face clinic. 97% had virtual follow up or had documented reasons why not. The 26 patients who were initially seen face to face were put through a simulated virtual fracture clinic. 22 appointments and 13 Xray attendances could have been avoided. We implemented a change of requiring all patients to be assessed at consultant level before having a face to face appointment. The re-audit showed over 99% achievement in all areas. CONCLUSION: Virtual fracture clinics, both triaging new patients and follow-up clinics have dramatically changed our outpatient management, helping the most appropriate patients to be seen face to face. Despite their limitations, they have been well tolerated by patients and improved patient safety and treatment.

Nosocomial spread of COVID-19: lessons learned from an audit on a stroke/neurology ward in a UK district general hospital.

We describe the details of a COVID-19 outbreak in a 25-bedded Birmingham neurology/stroke ward in the early phase of the pandemic (March to May 2020). Twenty-one of 133 admissions (16%) tested positive for COVID-19 and of those, 8 (6% of all admissions to the ward) were determined to be nosocomial. Thus 38% (8/21) of COVID-19 infections were hospital-acquired. Ten of the patients that contracted COVID-19 died; of these three were hospital-acquired cases. Five of the 21 patients had negative swabs prior to receiving a positive test result. This study highlights the importance of appropriate use of personal protective equipment (PPE) with high-risk patients (including those with stroke and complex brain injury with tracheostomies) and the difficulties of COVID-19 management in a high-risk patient population.

A national UK audit for diagnostic accuracy of preoperative CT chest in emergency and elective surgery during COVID-19 pandemic.

AIM: To report on a snap audit of all departments in the UK as to the value of preoperative thoracic imaging, preferably computed tomography (CT), of patients undergoing any surgery to assess for changes consistent with COVID-19 preoperatively. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All Imaging departments in the UK were contacted and asked to record the number of preoperative CT examinations performed in patients being considered for both emergency and elective surgical intervention over a 5-day period in May 2020. RESULTS: Forty-seven percent of departments replied with data provided on >820 patients. Nineteen percent of additional preoperative CT was in patients undergoing elective intervention and 81% in patients presenting with surgical abdominal pain. There was a high rate of false positives in patients who tested negative for COVID-19, producing a sensitivity for thoracic CT of 68.4%. CONCLUSION: This UK-wide audit demonstrates that a large number of additional thoracic imaging examinations over a 5-day period were performed with a low sensitivity for the identification of COVID-19 in this preoperative group of patients. Given these findings, it is difficult to justify this additional examination in this group of patients.