Presentations 2020: Special Care

335 - Audit to assess Treatment written on consent form vs Treatment carried out on Paediatric General Anaesthetic List

KE Mortiboy D Garcia Lucas
Presented by: Kate Mortiboy
Glan Clwyd Hospital

Introduction Informed consent must be obtained in writing from a parent or guardian with parental responsibility (unless the child is Gillick competent) prior to a paediatric general anaesthetic as per the Children Act 2004. This audit aims to assess if the treatment consented for at the initial visit matches treatment carried out under GA on the Paediatric GA List. Methods Over 1 month photocopies of the WHO document on which dental nurses record the treatment written on the consent forms were collected and the dental records were accessed via the computer dental desktop. The following data was then inputted into a data collection table and analysed. - If there had been a consent form filled out - The treatment consented for - The treatment carried out - If radiographs were taken pre GA - The dentist who consented patient - The length of time between the consent and the GA - The patient’s age Results 24 paediatric patients were treated under GA over the month long period. Across the 24 patients, there were a total of 125 extractions, 31 fillings and 8 radiographs taken. 100% of patients had consent forms filled out pre GA. However only 71% of patients had treatment which was identical to what was written on the consent form. The most common reason for a difference was because the patient had more fillings than planned. In the group where the treatment was not identical to the consent form, none of the patients had had radiographs taken at the consent appointment. All of the treatment planned by a specialist/consultant in paediatric dentistry as per the NHS England guidance (2018) had identical treatment to what was on the consent form. Conclusion This was a small pilot audit but has flagged up some key areas to look at in the future. It highlights the importance of radiographs, the relevance of staff grade and the most commonly missed treatment when planning for a GA.
Consent Statement: There are no details on individual patients reported within the abstract.

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