Ideas for clinical audit
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As a doctor in the UK, you may be required to conduct clinical audits as part of your appraisal and revalidation process. Clinical audits are systematic reviews of the quality of care provided to patients, based on evidence-based standards or guidelines. They can help you identify areas for improvement, implement changes and monitor their impact.
However, choosing a topic for your audit can be challenging, especially if you are new to the process or have limited time and resources. To help you out, we have compiled a list of 10 ideas for audit that are relevant, feasible and useful for doctors in different specialties. We have also included links to some resources that can guide you through the audit cycle.
10 Ideas for Audit:
1. Prescribing antibiotics for urinary tract infections (UTIs) in primary care. This audit can help you assess how well you follow the NICE guidelines on managing UTIs and reduce the risk of antimicrobial resistance. You can use the TARGET audit toolkit to collect and analyse your data.
2. Managing acute asthma exacerbations in children in emergency departments. This audit can help you evaluate how well you adhere to the BTS/SIGN guideline on paediatric asthma and improve the outcomes and experience of children with asthma. You can use the National Asthma and COPD Audit Programme (NACAP) audit tool to support your audit.
3. Screening for atrial fibrillation (AF) in patients over 65 years old in general practice. This audit can help you identify patients who may have undiagnosed AF and are at risk of stroke, and offer them appropriate anticoagulation therapy. You can use the GRASP-AF audit tool to extract and analyse your data.
4. Assessing frailty in older patients admitted to hospital. This audit can help you improve the identification and management of frail patients, who may have complex needs and increased risk of adverse outcomes. You can use the electronic Frailty Index (eFI) to measure frailty and the Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) to plan care.
5. Providing smoking cessation advice and support to patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in primary care. This audit can help you increase the rate of smoking cessation among patients with COPD, which is the most effective intervention to slow down the progression of the disease and improve quality of life. You can use the NACAP audit tool to measure your performance.
6. Monitoring blood pressure and renal function in patients with diabetes in primary care. This audit can help you prevent or delay the development of diabetic nephropathy, which is a common complication of diabetes and a leading cause of end-stage renal disease. You can use the National Diabetes Audit (NDA) tool to benchmark your practice against national standards.
7. Managing acute pain in adults in surgical wards. This audit can help you ensure that patients receive adequate pain relief after surgery, which can enhance recovery and reduce complications. You can use the Royal College of Anaesthetists (RCoA) National Audit Project (NAP) 6 tool to audit your practice.
8. Prescribing opioids for chronic non-cancer pain in primary care. This audit can help you review your prescribing patterns and reduce the potential harms of long-term opioid use, such as dependence, overdose and side effects. You can use the Opioids Aware audit tool to compare your practice with best practice recommendations.
9. Providing information and support to patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in secondary care. This audit can help you improve the quality of life and self-management skills of patients with IBD, who may have complex and long-term needs. You can use the IBD Standards Audit tool to measure your compliance with the IBD Standards.
10. Managing sepsis in adults in acute medical units. This audit can help you reduce mortality and morbidity from sepsis, which is a life-threatening condition that requires prompt recognition and treatment. You can use the Sepsis Trust audit tool to evaluate your practice against the NICE guideline on sepsis.
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