Using clinical audit to improve the quality of mental health-care services for people with learning disabilities

Using clinical audit to improve the quality of mental health-care services for people with learning disabilities Edward da Costa, Danielle Adams, Munzer Salmeh, Omar Mahmoud, Ekim Yetkili Advances in Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities, Vol. ahead-of-print, No. ahead-of-print, pp.- The over-reliance on psychotropic medication for the management of patients with learning disabilities with behaviour that challenges is well documented.This paper aims to discuss the application of the methodology of clinical audit within community learning disability mental health services to adapt interventions including optimising prescribing practice and behavioural interventions aiming to reduce behaviour that challenges in people with learning disabilities. Questionnaire-based review of documentation in electronic patient records, covering relevant audit standards in line with NICE and Royal College of Psychiatrists, was carried out in the North Essex Community Learning Disability Service, Hertfordshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. The audit included patients on the caseload of consultant psychiatrists. The audit demonstrated that the prescribing of psychotropic medication was within BNF maximum limits for all patients, evidence of “consent” procedures was being followed in the majority, and there was some evidence of deprescribing attempts.Improvement was required in several areas e.g. undocumented off label prescribing in a significant...
Source: Advances in Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities - Category: Disability Authors: Source Type: research