KGH Respiratory Service shortlisted for Patient Care Awards.
Kettering General Hospital’s Respiratory Service has been shortlisted for the 2020 Royal College of Physicians (RCP) Excellence in Patient Care Awards.
They are one of four teams in the finals of the college’s Innovation Award for their ambulatory management of spontaneous pneumothorax work – a service which helps to reduce the need for patients with lung conditions to spend time in hospital.
The RCP award recognises projects that have used innovative new techniques or ideas that have contributed to significant improvements in patient care or health outcomes.
The ambulatory pneumothorax service enables patients who would traditionally have been admitted to hospital for up to two weeks, to instead be seen and discharged on the same day – with regular follow-up checks at a special clinic as an outpatient.
The service is run by Consultants in Respiratory Medicine, Dr Raja Reddy, Dr George Tsaknis, Dr Muhammad Naeem, and Pleural Nurse Specialists Samantha Rawson and Lesley Holland.
Dr Tsaknis said: "The Respiratory Department established the ‘Ambulatory Pneumothorax Service’ in 2013 and we have further developed the service since then to treat not only primary cases (mainly young), but also mild secondary pneumothorax cases (usually older, smokers, with underlying lung disease), significantly increasing the number of patients who can safely benefit from this approach.
"Traditionally hospitals treat this condition - which is an air leak from the lung, causing lung collapse and breathlessness - by admitting the patient to hospital.
"They would then have a chest drain inserted into the space around the collapsed lung and would stay in hospital until it healed - sometimes for up to two weeks.
“We developed the service as a way for patients with this condition to have treatment that wouldn't involve overnight stays in hospital.
"What is innovative about our service is that many patients can be discharged home directly from A&E after chest drain insertion.
“They can then come in and see the Consultant or the Specialist Nurse as an outpatient in our Ambulatory Care Unit.
"Many pneumothorax patients are quite young and really don't want to spend unnecessary time in hospital so this flexible approach really suits their lifestyle. Additionally, many older patients with underlying lung conditions may also be fit enough to follow safely the same management and the patient feedback so far has been fantastic. It enables us to carry out all the checks we need to do on them during a short appointment.
“I want to thank the whole team for the work they put into the service which is much quicker and more convenient for patients and also saves the health service a lot of money because it reduces the need for expensive stays in hospital.”
During the pandemic the service is operating differently with X-rays being performed in off-site outpatient locations and follow-up consultations with patients by telephone, supplemented by hospital visits where necessary.
Judging for the awards is due in May. Winning teams get £1,000, a commemorative plaque and promotion of their winning project by the RCP.