A Frimley Health patient safety initiative has been shortlisted for a top national award. 

The joint submission by our Point of Care Testing (POCT) and Hospital @ Home frailty service teams is among the finalists in this year’s HSJ Patient Safety Awards.  

It was shortlisted in the Deteriorating Patients and Rapid Response Initiative of the Year category after the teams added a blood test called C-reactive protein (CRP) to their portable testing repertoire. 

CRP is a protein made by the liver and levels increase when there is inflammation or infection in the body. 

The Hospital @ Home team visits frail, acutely unwell elderly patients in their own homes to support, diagnose and treat new or deteriorating conditions, often preventing the need for hospital admission.  

Clinical scientist Dr Fiona Riddoch, from the POCT team, said: “The addition of CRP testing has provided a powerful tool to support timely and appropriate decision-making for antibiotic prescriptions, rather than having to rely on a result from a laboratory received hours later, and making post-hoc treatment changes, and potential adverse effects, due to the ability to make the right decision in real-time.”  

The benefit of CRP testing in the home was evaluated in 26 patients. Decision-making was changed in six patients: four were de-escalated from IV to oral antibiotics, one was de-escalated from IV to zero antibiotics, and one remained on oral antibiotics when they would otherwise have been escalated to IV. CRP testing helped avoid the need for an additional home visit for 12 of the patients and helped 13 avoid admission to hospital. 

The 2023 HSJ Patient Safety Awards will be held on 18 September in Manchester.