An Audit on Physical Health Assessment and Medical Review for Service Users Under the South Cambridgeshire Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment Team

Abstract

Aims

According to the Home Treatment Accreditation Scheme (HTAS) Standards for Home Treatment and Crisis Resolution Teams, the physical health assessment and medical review are type-1 criteria. These standards must be met for all service users since failure to meet them would constitute a significant threat to patient safety, rights, or dignity. This audit aimed to measure the compliance of the south Cambridgeshire crisis resolution and home treatment team (CRHTT) with the HTAS standards for physical health assessment and medical reviews.

Methods

This audit was registered with Audit & Service Evaluation Registration services at the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS foundation trust (CPFT). The necessary permissions to access patient records on the trust's electronic patient record (EPR) system were obtained from appropriate authorities in the CPFT IT department. From August 2021 to July 2022, all referrals to South Cambridgeshire CRHTT were screened for inclusion and exclusion criteria, and clinical records of 77 service users who met these criteria were analysed. The required data were collected on an excel sheet and analysed using descriptive statistics to measure the percentage of service users who satisfied the audit criteria. The audit was conducted between May 2022 and July 2022.

Results

A total of 1232 referrals were screened, and 77 (6.25 %) service users (n=77) satisfied the inclusion criteria. The average age of service users was 37, with 54.55% of the subjects being females and 45.45% being males. 70.12% of the CRHTT reviews met the Physical health assessment criteria as set by HTAS while 94.80% of the CRHTT reviews met the medical review criteria set by HTAS. The expectations were 100% of the CRHTT reviews should meet the HTAS standards for physical health assessment and medical review. The HTAS standards were not met in 30 percent of service users for the physical health assessment criteria and in 5% of service users for the medical review criteria for the CRHTT assessments done by the south Cambridgeshire CRHTT team for the period between August 2021 and July 2022.

Conclusion

This audit suggests that the south Cambridgeshire CRHTT is currently not meeting the standards laid down by HTAS and there is room for improvement in the physical health assessment and medical review process. The recommendations were made and additional audits may be necessary to ensure that all service users receive HTAS-compliant care.