547 QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PROJECT IN PRESCRIBING THICKENERS POST STROKE

Abstract

Abstract Introduction One of the therapies that Speech and Language Therapy SALT) provide is a level to which fluids must be thickened to ensure a safe swallow. The thickening agent should be supplied by the hospital to the patient on discharge. This requires the thickening agent to be added to the electronic discharge letter (EDL) and, ‘To Take Out’ (TTO) medication list by ward doctors. Method samples of 10-20 EDLs, taken from SALT list of stroke patients between interventions. Cycle 1: SALT were initially attempting to contact the physicians responsible for writing the EDL Cycle 2: SALT kept a register of patients that they had seen the recommended thickener prescription. This list was kept in the doctor’s office. This list was mentioned in handover every morning for doctors to update EDL Cycle 3: The aforementioned list was continued, and responsibility for transfer onto EDLs was delegated to the on call Senior House Officer (SHO) Cycle 4: In addition to the above measures, custom made stickers were added to the prescription chart as an indicator to add thickener to the TTO. Results Cycle 1: 20% Prescribed (n = 10) Cycle 2: 78% Prescribed n = 18) Cycle 3: 93% Prescribed (n = 14) Cycle 4: 100% Prescribed (n = 10). Conclusion This project has built up a multidisciplinary system to a multidisciplinary problem. Through repeated cycles and system improvement, we have seen and demonstrated a collaborative effort resulting in consistent and improving results.