A Quality Assurance Review Model for Pulmonary Function – The Royal Papworth Method

<bold>Introduction:</bold> Re-introduction of pulmonary function testing (PFT) post-covid required vigorous quality assurance procedures to be re-implemented. <bold>Aim:</bold> To assess the impact of quality assurance in ensuring all pulmonary function testing is accurate, and reliable for clinical decision-making. <bold>Methods:</bold> A monthly quality assurance programme was developed involving two members of physiologist staff. 20 PFT's were randomly selected from each month. Errors were fed back to individuals with support provided to prevent re-occurrence. In June 2023 errors were sub-categorised into clinical and non-clinical, helping to identify those likely to impact clinical decision-making. <bold>Results:</bold> see Figure 1a; number of errors, figure 1b; clinical and admin errors. Total number of errors (%) from June 2022 declined from 21% to 6% in September 2023. <fig><object-id>erj;64/suppl_68/PA2334/F1</object-id><object-id>F1</object-id><object-id>F1</object-id><graphic></graphic></fig> <bold>Conclusion:</bold> This quality project highlights the importance of undertaking regular quality assurance procedures to support accurate clinical-decision making, whilst supporting the department’s plan of obtaining national accreditation.