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Table 7 Oxygen provision quality indicators

From: Introducing the national COPD resources and outcomes project

INDICATOR

'Met in Full'

There is a Long Term Oxygen Therapy (LTOT) assessment service.

75%

74/99

There is screening in clinic of all patients with COPD to detect SaO2 <92%.

71%

70/99

The LTOT assessment includes optimising oxygen flow to achieve a PaO2 of 8 kPa or greater using arterial blood gases.

87%

84/97

The LTOT assessment uses a concentrator machine as the oxygen source.

59%

58/98

For patients prescribed LTOT, follow-up arrangements are made as recommended by the BTS guidelines for home oxygen provision

57%

56/98

There is a healthcare professional contact available to deal with queries from patients and carers concerning their oxygen therapy

82%

81/99

Ambulatory oxygen is provided by the department for suitable patients.

51%

50/98

There is screening for suitability for ambulatory oxygen, including SaO2 measurement, before referral for assessment.

48%

47/98

For patient's prescribed ambulatory oxygen, follow-up arrangements are made as recommended by the BTS guidelines for home oxygen provision.

44%

41/94

All patients receiving ambulatory oxygen receive education on how to use oxygen outside of the home.

58%

55/95

Written information is provided to all patients receiving oxygen.

66%

65/98

All hospital based oxygen prescriptions are routed through the Respiratory Department.

58%

57/98

Short Burst Oxygen is provided by the department to suitable patients.

73%

72/98

Patients are assessed for suitability before receiving Short Burst Oxygen.

54%

52/96

Regular audits of oxygen prescribing are carried out.

43%

42/98

  1. Percentage of the 100 NCROP sites providing oxygen in 2007 that said they 'met in full' these indicators (denominator = number of hospitals returning data)