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Clinical Audit Reviewing Compliance With Respective Trust-Based Physical Health Monitoring Guidelines, Amongst Inpatients Prescribed Anti-Psychotic Medication in Two Distinct Secure Care Facilities: A Low Secure Unit and a Prison Personality Disorder Unit

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 July 2023

Ashvini Selvaraj*
Affiliation:
Fulbourn Hospital, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Falade Adebowale
Affiliation:
Fulbourn Hospital, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, United Kingdom
*
*Corresponding author.
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Abstract

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Aims

  1. 1. To review the current level of compliance with CPFT (Cambridge & Peterborough Foundation Trust) guidelines by inpatients prescribed anti-psychotics at George Mackenzie House (GMH) low-secure unit and likewise, with NHFT (Northamptonshire Foundation Trust) guidelines by inmates prescribed anti-psychotics at HMP Whitemoor's Fens Unit.

  2. 2. To identify any differences or similarities in compliance rates between both sites.

  3. 3. To identify any possible areas of difficulty in ensuring full compliance with said guidelines and suggest possible solutions.

Methods

A retrospective design was used, in which the electronic and hardcopy patient records of service users at both sites, covering a specified time-frame (2nd Dec 2021- 2nd Dec 2022) were screened. Data collected from eligible users included demographic information, names of anti-psychotics used and results of each individual's screening profile measured against the respective Trust's guidelines.

Results

The demographic profiles of eligible service users at both sites were largely similar.

17 out of 18 services users from GMH and 23 out of 50 service users from the Fens Unit were found eligible for the audit.

The majority of eligible service users at both sites (88-100%) were compliant with measurement of relevant laboratory markers, as per Trust guidelines.

However, at both sites, there were notable omissions in monitoring of certain physical parameters, especially waist circumference (100% omission in both sites) and ECG monitoring ( 60% omission in prison,14% in GMH), which is important given the significant comorbidity of cardiovascular risk factors amongst service users at both sites.

Conclusion

We noted disproportionate compliance in the monitoring of different physical health parameters. While laboratory tests were on the whole, satisfactorily monitored, there were gaps in other clinical measurements like waist circumference and ECG recordings. We postulate several reasons for this discrepancy, including:

  • A possible lack of awareness about the importance of measuring parameters like waist circumference, which also indicates a lack of familiarity with Trust guidelines.

  • A lack of time/inconvenience in ensuring adequate recording of clinical parameters

  • Inadequate reminders to conduct relevant physical health checks.

We suggest possible solutions to ensure 100% compliance: for example, creating a teaching session for staff and service users on pertinent topics, like metabolic syndrome or creating electronic aids to remind staff when physical measurements are due.

This audit also engendered further questions on appropriateness of anti-psychotic prescription and importance of educating service users about physical complications of anti-psychotic use. These could be the focus of future audits.

Type
Audit
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NC
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. This does not need to be placed under each abstract, just each page is fine.
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Royal College of Psychiatrists

Footnotes

Abstracts were reviewed by the RCPsych Academic Faculty rather than by the standard BJPsych Open peer review process and should not be quoted as peer-reviewed by BJPsych Open in any subsequent publication.

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