Improving venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis in acute urological admissions during out of hours through the introduction of a urological admission proforma

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) kills more people than breast cancer, road traffic accidents, and AIDS combined, accounting for approximately 25,000 in-hospital deaths in England annually. The cost to the NHS is estimated at £640 million/annum. The most important element of VTE risk assessment strategy in England is to risk assess all patients for VTE on admission. The aim of our quality improvement programme (QIP) was to monitor our practice regarding VTE prophylaxis of the patients’ admitted urgently in our department, and then implement a measure to increase compliance if found to be poor. Our standards were based on the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines which state that all urgently admitted patients must have a completed VTE assessment form within 24 hours of admission and receive appropriate VTE prophylaxis including low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) and/or TED stockings. Our initial audit was conducted over a period of five weeks. All adult patients acutely admitted out of hours (5pm to 8am) were included. We then introduced a specially designed urological admissions proforma and organised several teaching sessions for junior doctors who facilitated acute admissions. Re-audit was performed using the same methods and timescale measuring improvement. Second re-audit six months after the introduction of the proforma, following the induction of the new cohort of junior doctors. - Primary audit: n=44. Proportion of: completed VTE form=56%, LMWH appropriately prescribed=65%,TEDS=35%. VTE related complications=3 - 1st re-audit: n=42. Proportion of: completed VTE form=93%, LMWH appropriately prescribed=83%,TEDS=64%. VTE related complications=0 - 2nd re-audit:n=43. Proportion of: completed VTE form=92%, LMWH prescribed=84%, TEDS=76%. VTE related complications=1 There has been a significant increase of compliance with the NICE guidelines regarding VTE prophylaxis within our department through introducing the specially designed urological admissions proforma and delivering teaching sessions for junior doctors. The implementation of the proforma also led to decreased prevalence of VTE related complications and their subsequent morbidity and mortality.