Improving diagnosis of serious illness through out-of-hours bedside blood tests Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
- Led by Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, in partnership with University of Oxford Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences.
- Aimed to reduce hospital admissions and improve identification of serious illness in older patients with frailty, in the Oxfordshire out-of-hours (OOH) home-visiting service.
- Equipped out-of-hours primary care clinicians with bedside finger-prick blood testing devices that give immediate results.
- Project ran from March 2016 to September 2017.
Older people with frailty are frequently seen in their own homes by out-of-hours (OOH) clinicians as they can’t get to an urgent care centre easily. These patients are at higher risk of having serious illnesses which require hospital treatment, but these are hard to detect without blood tests.
This project aimed to improve the diagnosis of serious illness by introducing point of care (POC) blood tests during OOH visits. The blood tests could detect or rule out serious illness, allowing clinicians to make better decisions and avoid unnecessary hospital admissions. This was the first time POC blood tests had been included in an OOH primary care service.
The project is now completing patient follow up to evaluate the impact on outcomes across the health service and will aim to publish their findings in peer-reviewed journals in the coming 6 – 9 months. The POC tests are continuing to be used in the service pending health economic evaluation.
Contact information
For more information about this project, please contact Medina Johnson, Chief Executive, IRISi.
About this programme
Work with us
We look for talented and passionate individuals as everyone at the Health Foundation has an important role to play.
View current vacanciesThe Q community
Q is an initiative connecting people with improvement expertise across the UK.
Find out more
