COPD Service Improvement Group*
The ordering and provision of domiciliary oxygen changed radically on 1st February 2006. Central to the new system is the patient assessment process. The old style assessment system was cumbersome, fragmented and lengthy. We felt that the new domiciliary oxygen system demanded a radical patient assessment service. A bit of lateral thinking led us to design a fast-track, streamlined assessment process that is innovative because
- We have created a one-stop clinic that for the first time combines the technical assessment with the nurse based activities
- We have de-centralised the process from secondary care and devolved it to the community level
- We have developed not one but three community resource centres
We know that we can do more – we know that we can take the follow-up right into the patient’s home. To do this we need a portable blood gas machine – in fact we need two machines – one for the Newark & Sherwood district and one for the Mansfield & Ashfield District. If we were successful the Browne Jacobson Innovation Award would enable us to purchase two machines and complete the final step in this process.
Developing the new service has demanded hard thinking, wide-ranging discussions with secondary care colleagues and colleagues from two PCT’s. The PCT’s have given tangible support by committing clinic space, administrative support and funding for secondary care technical staff to work within the community hospitals.
The new service benefits the patient because
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They have 2 clinic visits instead of 4
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It reduces travelling ie distance and frequency
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It provides a local resource and contact for all aspects of the service
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Technicians and nurses work together leading to greater understanding of roles and cross-fertilisation of ideas
The benefits to patients will be lasting because
- There is continuity of care from the initial assessment through to the follow-up and monitoring
- The service is responsive to the patients changing condition and changing oxygen requirements
In a brief window of time we have come far, we have cut through red tape, we have run pilot clinics to test complex assessment processes, we have gained solid support from our local PCT’s. We are breathless from what we have achieved and from the enthusiasm of everyone involved. Our aim is to become a regional oxygen assessment service.
Dr Sue Revill, Mrs Karen Burgin, Mrs Diane Reynolds, Dr Mike Ward
Department of Respiratory Medicine,Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust
Dr Chris Kenny, Mrs Ann Beard, Mrs Anne Haywood Mansfield & Ashfield PCT
Dr David Britton, Mrs Sue Briggs, Newark & Sherwood PCT
