TAM (Treatments and Medicines) NHS Highland
A study by Seeley et al in 2013 surveying the attendance of patients presenting to ED with a Head Injury over a 6 month period found that:
- In the 873 patients who presented with HI but were not admitted to hospital head injury advice was only documented in 122 patients records.
- In the 208 patients admitted head injury advice was only documented 49 patients’ records.
Following a short audit of patients presenting to Raigmore Hospital ED between October to December 2023 we found that:
- 76 patients presented with a recorded head injury (Recorded as: uncomplicated HI-31, intracranial injury:7, and Head injury:30)
- Of these 76 patients: 27 were admitted (11 to general surgery, 7 to acute medical, 6 to SHDU, 2 to ICU, 1 to Ortho).
- Following discharge home: 9 patients (33%) had a re-presentation to ED with complications related to their HI.
A working group based in Raigmore hospital discussed the use and efficacy of a head injury discharge check list to ensure clear, consistent, and evidenced, assessment and documentation on advice and support given.
This checklist document has been approved by the Senior Leadership Team and, upon implementation, will be audited by the Major trauma rehab coordinators to monitor its implementation and effectiveness.
Checklist is available via the link at the top of this document Further copies are available from the Major trauma rehab team intranet page, the Head injury section on the ED intranet page, and on TAM.
Further guidance on head injury severity clarification is available via ‘Traumatic brain injury guidelines’ on TAM