Reforming respiratory outpatient services: a before-and-after observational study assessing the impact of a quality improvement project applying British Thoracic Society criteria to the discharge of patients to primary care

Abstract

Background: Secondary care physicians caring for people with long-term conditions (LTCs) are under increasing pressure to discharge long-term follow-up patients to primary care. In respiratory medicine, the 2008 British Thoracic Society (BTS) statement on criteria for specialist referral, admission, discharge, and follow-up for adults with respiratory disease remains the only available basis for this dialogue. There is widespread concern about reforming outpatient clinics to meet these demands and the impact of discharging people with respiratory LTCs to primary care.

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