WTP8.2 How the healthcare system fails to provide continued care for patients

Abstract

Abstract Aims In the current climate of dissatisfaction with the healthcare system due to oversaturation of outpatient services that has left around 7 million people waiting to be seen for the first time, we wanted to evaluate the number of post-surgical patients who have failed to receive appropriate follow-up. Methods We retrospectively looked at all patients admitted under the vascular department at a tertiary centre hospital over a 3-month period. We excluded the following patients from our data collection: 1. Those who passed away in hospital. 2. Those who did not require follow-up after discharge. We looked at the Electronic Patient Records (EPR) to identify if they had been given a follow-up appointment. Results A total of 127 of the 150 patients admitted in the 3 month study period were advised a follow-up in their Electric discharge notifications (EDNs). Of these, 83 patients were admitted electively and 44 as emergencies. For a follow-up appointment to be booked there are two steps: For the elective admissions, 88% had follow-up booked compared to 86% for the emergency admissions. Conclusions Our study shows that the failure to follow up rate was 12-14% despite a dual notification method. This can have an adverse impact on both the quality and continuity of patient care. The system still continues to fail the patients.