Outcomes of a nurse-led thyroid clinic at a tertiary-care endocrine centre

Violet Fazal-Sanderson, Niki Karavitaki, Ashley Grossman, Atul Kalhan

Research output: Contribution to conference (unpublished)Abstractpeer-review

Abstract

Introduction: A Nurse-led Thyroid Clinic (NLTC) in a tertiary-care Endocrinology centre (EC) in Oxford was set up in 2005. The patients were managed by an Endocrine Advanced Nurse Practitioner.

Aims: To evaluate standard of clinical care (SOCC) quality of service provision (QOSP) and cost effectiveness (CE) of the NLTC.

Methods: Three aspects of service were assessed:

a) SOCC: Data were collected for patients managed over 12 months between
1/2014 and 1/2015. Diagnosis, investigations and management plans for
individual patients were compared against accepted regional and national
guidelines.

b) QOSP was evaluated from standardised patient feedback questionnaires (PFQ)
that were anonymised for confidentially

c) CE was analysed through collection of retrospective data of filed patients clinic
lists between 1/2014 and 1/2015. A new patient (NP) tariffed at £120, followup,
at £90 per visit according to finance department protocol. Annual data
recorded of non-face-to-face-telecommunication (NFTFT) costed at £30 per
call.

Results:

a) SOCC: 214 patient appointments for 134 patients were reviewed; 112 patients
had Graves’ disease, 10 subacute thyroiditis,10 toxic nodular diseases and
two subclinical thyrotoxicosis. Patients were managed with a departmental
protocol based on British Thyroid Association guidelines 2006.

b) QOSP: 50 out of 60 PFQ were returned (34 women/16 men, median age 52.3
years, range 21–85). Majority of the patients expressed high satisfaction with
the quality of services provided, with 86% “Extremely Likely” to recommend
the TNLC to friends and family.

c) CE: New and follow-up patients generated an annual income of £20,490.
NFTFT calls (908 patients) generated an income of £27,240. 41 empty NP
clinic slots, 22 follow up cancellations and 19 patients who failed to attend the
clinic, amounted to a loss of £8610.

Conclusions: The audit supports the value of NLTCs in EC’s with a significant thyroid dysfunction workload. These clinics can provide high quality of clinical care and potentially be cost-effective.
Original languageEnglish
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2017
Event19th European Congress of Endocrinology - Lisbon, Portugal
Duration: 20 May 201723 May 2017

Conference

Conference19th European Congress of Endocrinology
Country/TerritoryPortugal
CityLisbon
Period20/05/1723/05/17

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Outcomes of a nurse-led thyroid clinic at a tertiary-care endocrine centre'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this