ERCP for bile duct stones across a national service, demonstrating a high requirement for repeat procedures.

Background and study aims Bile duct stones (BDS) represent approximately 50 % of the requirement for endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) within most services. Significant variation in outcome rates for BDS clearance at ERCP has been reported, and endoscopy societies have set standards for expected clearance rates. The aim of this study was to analyze procedure outcomes across a national service. Patients and methods Using verified hospital episode statistics (HES) data for the National Health Service (NHS) in England, we analyzed all patients having first ERCPs for BDS from 2015 to 2017, and followed these patients for at least 2 years. Results In total 37,468 patients underwent a first ERCP for BDS, with 69.8 % undergoing only one procedure. This figure of less than 70 % of BDS cleared at first ERCP is below the Key Performance Indicators as set by the British Society of Gastroenterology (> 75 %) and the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (> 90 %). Of 55,556 ERCPs done for BDS, 52.9 % were repeat procedures, with 11,322 patients needing multiple procedures. For hospitals performing significant numbers of ERCPs (more than 600 for BDS during the study period) patients undergoing repeat ERCPs for BDS ranged from 9 % to 50 %. Conclusions In this nationwide study, the performance at clearing BDS at first ERCP was suboptimal, with high numbers of repeat procedures required. This may have a negative impact on both patient outcomes and experience, and increase pressure on endoscopy services. Apparent variation of outcome between acute hospital care providers requires further analysis.

Accuracy of online symptom checkers and the potential impact on service utilisation.

OBJECTIVES: The aims of our study are firstly to investigate the diagnostic and triage performance of symptom checkers, secondly to assess their potential impact on healthcare utilisation and thirdly to investigate for variation in performance between systems. SETTING: Publicly available symptom checkers for patient use. PARTICIPANTS: Publicly available symptom-checkers were identified. A standardised set of 50 clinical vignettes were developed and systematically run through each system by a non-clinical researcher. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: System accuracy was assessed by measuring the percentage of times the correct diagnosis was a) listed first, b) within the top five diagnoses listed and c) listed at all. The safety of the disposition advice was assessed by comparing it with national guidelines for each vignette. RESULTS: Twelve tools were identified and included. Mean diagnostic accuracy of the systems was poor, with the correct diagnosis being present in the top five diagnoses on 51.0% (Range 22.2 to 84.0%). Safety of disposition advice decreased with condition urgency (being 71.8% for emergency cases vs 87.3% for non-urgent cases). 51.0% of systems suggested additional resource utilisation above that recommended by national guidelines (range 18.0% to 61.2%). Both diagnostic accuracy and appropriate resource recommendation varied substantially between systems. CONCLUSIONS: There is wide variation in performance between available symptom checkers and overall performance is significantly below what would be accepted in any other medical field, though some do achieve a good level of accuracy and safety of disposition. External validation and regulation are urgently required to ensure these public facing tools are safe.

Variation in laparoscopic anti-reflux surgery across England: a 5-year review.

BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic anti-reflux surgery (LARS) remains central to the management of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease but the scale and variation in provision in England is unknown. The aims of this study were firstly to examine the processes and outcomes of anti-reflux surgery in England and compare them to national guidelines and secondly to explore potential variations in practice nationally and establish peer benchmarks. METHODS: All adult patients who underwent LARSin England during the Financial years FY 2011/2012-FY 2016/2017 were identified in the Surgeon's Workload Outcomes and Research Database (SWORD), which is based on the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data warehouse. Outcomes included activity volume, day-case rate, short-stay rate, 2- and 30-day readmission rates and 30-day re-operation rates. Funnel plots were used to identify national variation in practice. RESULTS: In total, 12,086 patients underwent LARS in England during the study period. The operation rate decreased slightly over the study period from 5.2 to 4.6 per 100,000 people. Most outcomes were in line with national guidelines including the conversion rate (0.76%), 30-day re-operation rate (1.43%) and 2- and 30-day readmission rates (1.65 and 8.54%, respectively). The day-case rate was low but increased from 7.4 to 15.1% during the 5-year period. Significant variation was found, particularly in terms of hospital volume, and day-case, short-stay and conversion rates. CONCLUSION: Although overall outcomes are comparable to studies from other countries, there is significant variation in anti-reflux surgery activity and outcomes in England. We recommend that units use these data to drive local quality improvement efforts.