502 OUTCOMES OF HOSPITALISED PATIENTS WITH COVID-19 SIX MONTHS AFTER INDEX ADMISSION

Introduction

Early outcomes for hospitalised patients with covid-19, including admissions to critical care and mortality have been widely published. Less is known about the longer-term patient outcomes such as readmissions, deaths after discharge and level of care required on discharge.

Methods

Following an audit of 360 consecutive admissions of patients with covid-19 requiring level 1 inpatient care in spring 2020, we collated data about mortality, readmissions, and residential status for the same cohort at six months after index admission.

Results

The cohort had a median age of 78: 70% survived to discharge. Median length of stay was nine days (range 1–90). Of 252 patients discharged, a further 35 (14%) had died by six-month follow-up. 95 patients (38%) required at least one further hospital admission in the following six-month period. 40 (16%) of discharged patient required increased support, defined as new or increased package of care or an alternative interim or permanent change of residence. (Table 1). Table 1 emailed separately as will not transfer into this space Of the 40 patients requiring increased support on discharge, 7 (18%) died, 15 (38%) returned to their preadmission residential status, and 17 (43%) still required increased support.

Conclusions

Covid-19 has a high mortality rate in those admitted to hospital. Patients receiving level 1 care in hospital and surviving to discharge have a high risk of readmission or death in the following six-months. For those requiring increased support on discharge, the majority do not return to their pre-admission residential status.

[Health and social inequalities in maternal and child health in Paraguay]

OBJECTIVE

To describe health and social inequalities in maternal and child health indicators defined in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3.1 and SDG 3.2 targets based on administrative data among the departments of Paraguay in 2017.

METHODS

Quantitative descriptive study with ecological design. Simple gap measures and complex gradient measures based on the adjustment of negative binomial and logistic regression models were used.

RESULTS

Fifty percent of Paraguay's departments have estimated maternal mortality ratio (MMR) values higher than the national value. The percentage of births attended by a qualified professional in the country is 98.1%, with a range between 82.4% and 99.9%. In 13 of 18 departments, under-five mortality rate (U5MR) is higher than the national average, ranging from 4.2 to 49.2 deaths per 1 000 live births. Neonatal mortality rates (NMR) in the departments vary from 2.6 to 45.1 deaths per 1 000 live births. There are major health and social inequalities in the MMR, U5MR and NMR between the departments. There are no high inequalities in the percentage of births attended by a qualified professional between the departments.

CONCLUSIONS

Paraguay needs to make significant efforts to reduce the health and social inequalities that exist in the MMR, U5MR and NMR between departments. Numerical targets must be established to improve national values and reduce inequalities in these indicators, which will allow for accountability on the commitment to "leave no one behind" established in the SDG, and will help generate strategies to improve the health of women and children in Paraguay.

38 Improving Access to Outpatient Services for Older People Using A Clinical Microsystems Approach

Background

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust provides services to more than 500,000 residents in the North-East of England across multiple sites.

Local problem

Outpatient services for older people across Northumbria include specialist (eg falls) and generic clinics with differing referral routes, demands and waiting times. Referrals derive from primary care, emergency services and elsewhere; some are complex patients requiring a comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA). Existing pathways led to variable waits for clinics, duplication and delays.

Aim was to improve the timeliness, efficiency and access to appropriate assessment first time.

Methods

We adopted a Clinical Microsystems approach (Sheffield Microsystems Coaching Academy) for improvement. Main components were team coaching, weekly “Big Room” meeting of involved staff to share understanding of current process, agree change ideas, and test these with multiple plan, do, study, act (PDSA) cycles. Impacts of each PDSA cycle were discussed in Big Room, leading to refinement of the pathway.

Interventions

Results: PDSA interventions were tested over 6 months: Development of a single triage systemCGA clinic for frail older patients.Development of shared documentation for CGA.Improved cycle and lead times for assessment

Conclusions

Our quality improvement work supported the development and implementation of a new referral triage process with CGA assessment for complex frail patients. The change has reduced patient wait times, provided early intervention and reduced duplication. Work is ongoing to determine impact on patient satisfaction and time to discharge from clinic. The approach taken by this project could be applied elsewhere to improve outpatient referral processes.

Association between environmental predisposing risk factors and leg disorders in broiler chickens

Footpad dermatitis and lameness are a major welfare concern in broiler chicken farming. In general, footpad lesions are linked to poor environmental conditions. Ulcers that arise from advanced lesions can negatively affect the gait of the birds, with effects on the animal welfare, including, in the worst cases, inability to reach the feed or water. In this study, the degree of footpad dermatitis and lameness was manually scored on 4 broiler farms across Europe, as part of an EU-wide welfare assessment program. The welfare of the chickens was assessed 3 times per production cycle (at wk 3, 4, and 5), scoring footpad dermatitis, lameness, and litter quality. In the same broiler farms, variables such as air temperature and relative humidity were automatically measured over the same period. These variables were combined into a widely accepted thermal comfort index and associated to upper and lower thresholds, which made it possible to quantify the percentage of time the birds spent out of the thermal comfort zone (POOC). The data was analyzed by combining data from the welfare assessments with environmental data collected by the automated monitoring systems. Considering the comparison between POOC classes, the highest probabilities of footpad dermatitis and lameness were obtained when POOC values exceeded the 70% threshold. Therefore, the analysis showed that footpad dermatitis and lameness were more frequent when the flock was exposed to poor environmental conditions for prolonged periods ( < 0.001). Since environmental conditions can be continuously measured, and the risk factor for footpad dermatitis and lameness increases with poor environmental conditions, there is the possibility to develop a detection and control system of severe lesions.

Discerning pig screams in production environments

Pig vocalisations convey information about their current state of health and welfare. Continuously monitoring these vocalisations can provide useful information for the farmer. For instance, pig screams can indicate stressful situations. When monitoring screams, other sounds can interfere with scream detection. Therefore, identifying screams from other sounds is essential. The objective of this study was to understand which sound features define a scream. Therefore, a method to detect screams based on sound features with physical meaning and explicit rules was developed. To achieve this, 7 hours of labelled data from 24 pigs was used. The developed detection method attained 72% sensitivity, 91% specificity and 83% precision. As a result, the detection method showed that screams contain the following features discerning them from other sounds: a formant structure, adequate power, high frequency content, sufficient variability and duration.

Trepanation and Roman medicine: a comparison of osteoarchaeological remains, material culture and written texts

Evidence for prehistoric trepanation is limited to preserved osteoarchaeological material, namely human skulls, and the occasional discovery of surgical instruments. However, the Roman empire gave rise to an abundant and diverse range of source types, including skeletal remains, material culture and detailed medical texts, each of which harbours the potential to contribute to our understanding of trepanation during this historical period. This paper highlights the advantages and inherent biases of each of these source types, and proposes that the simultaneous analysis and integration of different types of historical evidence is essential for the study of trepanation as a surgical procedure.