RCEM Guidelines Flashcards
Name 4 examinations/procedures where “ co-operation with the procedure” amounts to valid implied consent?
Resource:
RCEM- consent in adults, adolescents and children in the
ED - Jan 2018
- physical examination
- ECG
- venepuncture
- small wound closure
In adults - who are the only people that can provide consent?
Resource:
RCEM- consent in adults, adolescents and children in the ED - Jan 2018
Consent may only be provided by:
- the patient (provided they have capacity)
- a person with Lasting Power of Atorney for welfare
- a court appointed deputy in England & Wales
In the setting of a clinical emergency and if it is NOT possible to find out a patients wishes - which 2 circumstances can you provide treatment without a patients consent?
Resource:
RCEM- consent in adults, adolescents and children in the ED - Jan 2018
- to save their life
2. or prevent a serious deterioration of their condition.
What should you do if a patient is not likely to regain capacity to give consent in a situation where a decision is time critical and a delay in initiating treatment would be detrimental to the patients well-being?
Resource:
RCEM- consent in adults, adolescents and children in the ED - Jan 2018
in this case: a best interest decision should be reached.
Where there is a choice of treatment, the treatment provided must be the least restrictive on the patients future choices.
What are the key features of valid consent?
Resource:
RCEM- consent in adults, adolescents and children in the ED - Jan 2018
Consent must be given:
- voluntarily and freely,
- without pressure being exerted on the patient to
accept or refuse treatment - and the person needs to understand the nature and
purpose of the procedure
Restraint may at times be considered a best interest intervention.
In which 3 circumstances can restraint be considered acceptable?
Resource:
RCEM- consent in adults, adolescents and children in the ED - Jan 2018
- the person using it reasonably BELIEVES IT IS NECESSARY to prevent harm to the person who lacks capacity
- the restraint used is a PROPORTIONATE RESPONSE to the likelihood and seriousness of harm
- This ACTION DOES NOT CONFLICT with a previous decision made by an attorney or deputy under their powers.
What would you do if a person withdraws consent to the procedure while you are carrying out the procedure?
Resource:
RCEM- consent in adults, adolescents and children in the ED - Jan 2018
- ascertain the problem
- ensure the patients capacity has not changed
- explain the consequences of abandoning the procedure
note: if stopping the procedure might endanger the life of the patient - the Dr is entitiled to continue untill that is no longer the case.
What should you do if a patient states that they do not wish to known in detail about their condition or the proposed treatment for which consent is being sought?
Resource:
RCEM- consent in adults, adolescents and children in the ED - Jan 2018
- their wishes should be requested as far as possible
- however if competent, they must still receive the basic information required in order to give valid consent
- such information is likely to include wether the procedure is invasive, what level of pain they might experience, what can be done to minimise this and if it involves any serious risks
- patient refusal to know in detail about the proposed treatment should be carefully documented in the patients notes.
Consent in children and adolescents:
- who can give consent?
- when can treatment be given without consent?
Resource:
RCEM- consent in adults, adolescents and children in the ED - Jan 2018
- who can give consent:
* the child or
* one parent or
* the court
Note: at 16, children can be presumed to have capacity to give consent. parents cannot override competent consent given by a child, but the reverse is legally complicated.
- regardless of age, emergency treatment to save a life or prevent deterioration can be given without consent
- When can police stations be used as a place of safety?
- when can police stations NEVER be used as a place of safety?
Resource:
RCEM- A brief guide to section 136 in the ED - Dec 2017
- a police station can only be used for an adult if the detaining officer is satisfied that :
a. the behaviour of the adult presents an imminent risk of serious injury/death to that adult/others
b. as a result, no other place of safety in the police area in which the adult is located can reasonable be expected to detain them; and
c. the use of police station is authorised by an inspector or higher rank.
- Never for under 18’s
Regarding police responsibility to stay in the ED with a patient brought in under section 136:
When can the ED take over the legal responsibility for a 136s detention?
if they have the staff and capacity to ensure
- the wellbeing of the patient and
- ensure they do not abscond
There will be cases when the detained person is not in a position to abscond ( if in a coma ) when it may be appropriate for ED to take over responsibility
What are the 5 key performance indicators for ED’s in the UK?
Resource:
RCEM guideline March 2019
Key performance indicators:
- time to initial assessment
- time to treatment
- total time in ED
- left without being seen
- re-attendance rate
Name 1 of the key quality indicators for ED’s ?
dont confuse performance indicators
Key Quality indicators:
- Proportion of patients with RCEM high
risk conditions who are seen by a Consultant or senior decision maker.
these are:
*Chest Pain in people over the age of 30 * Abdominal pain in people age over the age of 70 years *Fever in children under six months of age *Unscheduled return visits within 72 hours
What factors cause crowding in the ED?
Crowding may be caused by a variety of factors:
1. Surges in demand
2. Inadequate staff or resources to meet demand
3. Inadequate physical capacity of the ED relative to the
demand faced
4. Constraints within internal processes
5. Exit block from the ED.
What are the markers of crowding in the ED?
Note : this is very similar to the measures of crowding.
- Prolonged Ambulance offload times (e.g. > 15 minutes).
- Long waits for patients to be assessed by Emergency
Department clinicians (e.g. > 1 hour). - Occupancy of available resuscitation and trolley spaces
greater than 100%. - Delays between request for a bed and that bed being
made available (e.g. > 1 hour). - High proportion of patients in the ED awaiting
placement on an inpatient ward.
Name a few measures that you can take to maintain safety in a crowded ED?
- Don’t compromise handovers. After handover walk the
department. - If you are overloaded think “STAR”:
Stop, Think, Act, Review.
This may require a team time-out to take stock and
make a plan. - If you have a specific check list, use it.
- Brief staff if specific actions required.
- Make a judgment on risk. Critical risk = harm to
patients likely OR no capacity
to accept and / or manage incoming sick patients. - If risk critical and resolution not immediately
expected:
o Contingency planning: what if a critically ill patient
arrives? - If exit block:
o Undertake a brief safety round every 2-4 hours to
ensure long stayers
are (1) stable (2) still needing to be in the ED.
o Ask clinicians to ensure next-step critical drugs and
fluids are written up:
attention to analgesia, antibiotics, diabetic regimes,
regular steroids.
o Ask clinicians to ensure investigations are followed
up and acted upon.
o Liaise with ambulance crews to mitigate risk in the
queue.
If your ED is crowded, what strategies can you employ to acutely decompress your ED?
- Stream to specialties and get the specialty doctors
down to see appropriate
patients if not already done - Any investigations you can get underway?
- Prioritise the CTs
- Ensure patients can get to X-ray (porters may be
deployed elsewhere) - Any patients you can get home quickly?
- Any patients who can be streamed to primary care or
walk in centres? - Does everyone in a cubicle, need to be in a cubicle
(can they go into a chair?) - Utilise internal professional standards if appropriate
and if it will help (e.g. direct admission). If there is exit
block this may be futile - Can you free up any space by streaming to
specialties which sometimes have space? (e.g.
paeds, gynae), or by using ambulatory care and
CDU? - Can any patients go to wards direct from CT?
- Anyone who can be discharged from, or sat-out from,
CDU?
What factors are associated with crowding?
Crowding is associated with:
- Negative effects for patients:
o Increased mortality amongst admitted patients
o Increased length of stay amongst admitted patients
o Failure in key quality standards
o Poor patient experience. - Negative effects on staff:
o Burnout
o Increased illness
o Difficulty with recruitment and retention. - Negative effects on organisations:
o Performance
o Reputational
Any assessment area needs to be safe for staff,
and conducive to valid mental health assessment.
What criteria should be met to achieve the standards of an assessment area for mental health patients?
- there should be no ligature points,
- and nothing that can be used as a weapon.
- The room should have an alarm system and
two doors (that open both ways)
What is the benefit of using AUDIT-C tool in the ED?
AUDIT-C identifies those who are drinking at
increasing/higher risk levels before their drinking becomes problematic or dependent.
A total score of > 5 indicates a high risk of alcohol drinking/dependency
You are discharging a patient who presented with alcohol intoxication.
What brief intervention can you offer?
- A sentence or two of feedback to the patient about his/her drinking based on the
screening tool and the person’s circumstances - A sentence or two of feedback plus an information leaflet.
- Five minutes of advice based on the FRAMES structure (i.e. Feedback, Responsibility,
Advice, Menu of options, Empathy, Self-efficacy).
Sepsis screening is done as a 2-part process.
what is this?
1stly confirming that sepsis risk stratification is required by asking 3 questions:
- is their a concern that sepsis is a possibility in this patient ( NEWS > 3 )
- Could this be due to an infection
- is full escalation of care appropriate for this patient
secondly ( in the population thus identified ) screening for the level of severity of sepsis ( sepsis risk stratification/ red flags for sepsis )
In Red flag sepsis - what does a high lactate indicate?
- highly predictive of death
- and poor outcomes
when initially elevated in a patient with confirmed sepsis
- What is cryptic shock?
2. What is septic shock ?
CRYPTIC SHOCK:
in a patient with sepsis , who have a normal blood pressure but elevated serum lactate ( a lactate above 2 is considered elevated )
SEPTIC SHOCK:
in a patient with sepsis, it is hypotension ( SBP < 90 )
OR serum lactate > 4mmol/L
In a patient with sepsis -what is the relationship of lactate to mortality?
Relationship of lactate level to mortality:
<2 = 15%
2-4 = 25%
> 4 = 38%