ESPE Abstracts

Introduction: The BSPED Peer review programme was developed to provide a regular cycle of independent impartial professional assessment, against agreed quality standards for Specialised Paediatric Endocrine Services (SPES) in the UK.¹ The aim is to continuously promote best quality of care for children and young people with endocrine disorders requiring National Health Service treatment at a SPES. We present here an evaluation of the process during this first review cycle.

Methods: We examined: 1. the format, process and documentation of the review process; 2. SPES experiences from questionnaires immediately and at least 6 months after the review.

Results: A Peer Review Officer was appointed by the BSPED to oversee the planning and delivery of this programme. SPES were assessed against the BSPED Quality Standards¹, which comprise 54 criteria, categorised as essential and desirable, in 5 domains: 1.Access to SPES; 2.Resources of SPES; 3.Environment and facilities, care of the child and family/patient experience; 4.Communication; 5.Clinical governance, professional education and training, and evidence base. Information about the SPES to assess against these criteria was obtained from the following: 1. a self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ) completed by the SPES lead; 2 SAQ completed by paediatricians in linked secondary care hospitals; 3. a one-day SPES visit by a BSPED review team consisting of a senior paediatric endocrinologist, a general paediatrician with special interest in endocrinology and a specialist paediatric endocrine nurse. The SPES visit date was mutually planned at least 6months in advance, comprised interviews with key professionals, trainees and patients, inspection of facilities and review of documents (e.g. medical records, protocols, patient information). Conclusions and recommendations of the assessment were conveyed to the SPES professionals and senior managers face-to-face at the end of the visit and in a written report within 4 weeks. Twenty BSPED members were designated to undertake the reviews. All 22 SPES (England 18, Scotland 2, Wales 1, Northern Ireland 1) participated. All reviews were completed between 2011 to 2017. All SPES reported that the quality standards were appropriate, the assessment from the review process was fair and it motivated engagement in quality improvements.

Conclusion: This BSPED activity aimed at promoting the quality of SPES in the UK demonstrates the feasibility and acceptability of establishing a nationwide Peer Review programme. The model could also be used by international professional societies such as ESPE or European Reference Networks such as Endo-ERN.

References: ¹BSPED. UK Standards for Paediatric Endocrinology, 2010. https://www.bsped.org.uk/media/1370/bspedpaediatricendocrinestandardsvs 130710.pdf