432 Improving the Use of Acute ENT Clinic in a DGH During the COVID19 Pandemic. (19th August 2022) - Bondje, S
Abstract: Aim: The SHO led acute ENT clinic is used to assess and treat a variety of ENT pathology. Following the COVID19 pandemic, the department has seen an increase in referrals for conditions that do not meet departmental guidelines. To meet demand, our clinics were always overbooked and over running as juniors sought help from seniors for more complex referrals. Method: A quality improvement project was initially set to be performed over a few months; however, due to COVID, data was collected over a year from December 2019 to 2020. We looked specifically at number of patients referred, reason for referral, number of follow-up appointments, senior review required and how COVID affected the running of the clinics. Results: Compared with the clinic's standard operating procedure, 77.2% of clinics were overbooked and 69.8% of patients had unsuitable referrals. This prompted changes such as increasing clinic capacity by introducing full day clinics and increasing senior support by moving to the outpatient department, then clinics were only overbooked 1% of the time. Other areas for improvement highlighted such as advice given to patients as well as referral to main ENT clinic. Conclusion: It was clear that the capacity of the acute clinic did not meet demand, and this was needed to ensure patient safety and adhere to ENT UK guidance. We implemented a more stringent referral system to increase patient safety by ensuring patients with appropriate pathology are seen in this clinic or referred to other relevant clinics where they can be seen earlier by seniors.