Endocrine Abstracts

Rationale for change: Two years ago the Endocrine department instigated an audit of patients who had received radioiodine treatment (RAI) for hyperthyroidism. This highlighted there was a variation in timeliness of follow-up appointments and at least a third of patients were rendered symptomatic as a result of the treatment, prior to review taking place.Innovation: As a result of the initial audit a nurse-led clinic was established to monitor patients fo...

BACKGROUND: Dynamic function tests are needed to diagnose a range of endocrine disorders but often require in-patient investigation. A recent audit of our endocrine service revealed deficiencies that included frequent delay to investigations and cancellation of planned appointments. We developed an Endocrine Nurse Specialist (ENS) post whose role included carrying out endocrine testing in an out-patient setting to assess whether this might improve quality of care for our patie...