Summary of Data from Subsequent Re-Audit
Following the initial audit cycle, it was found that more than half of the patients (52.5%) with an ear problem were requiring suctioning for which they had to be referred to the ENT MOT.
Therefore, the suctioning machine was made available in the ENT OPD, and suction was started for the patients presenting to the ENT OPD. A subsequent reaudit was carried out in January 2022 to see the effects of the change that had been implemented.
During January, data was collected from 338 patients (58.9% males and 41.1% females).
The most common problems for which suctioning was done were ear wax, ear discharge, and otomycosis. The details of Presenting complaint are in Table 2. The data showed that the suctioning was done for 54.4% (184 out of 338) of the patients that came to the ENT OPD. The established diagnosis based on suctioning in OPD is mentioned in Table 3.
As most of the patients that were previously referred from the ENT OPD to the ENT MOT were those that required suctioning of the ear, the percentage of patients that had to be referred to ENT OT decreased from 54.5% in the previous audit to a significantly low value of 9.5% in this audit. The percentage of patients who still require referral to the OT is 9.5% as seen in Figure 2. The diagnosis requiring suctioning in OT is mentioned in Table 4.
The 9.5% of patients (32 out of 338) that had to be referred to the ENT MOT included patients that required Examination of the ear under the microscope for CSOM, required the removal of foreign body, and needed steroid injections in the keloid of ear lobule. Removal of the foreign body has been a major cause of referral in a Saudi Arabian study too along with the lack of specialty in the clinic [12].