A study that analyzed UK hospital admissions shows that hospital deaths from community acquired pneumonia dropped 14% between 2009 and 2015.
The UK study, undertaken by the Department of Respiratory Medicine, Nottingham University Hospital’s NHS Trust and the BTS, analyzed data from 23,315 UK hospital admissions for community acquired pneumonia (CAP) across six years.
The research showed that key elements of hospital care for CAP improved during this period and may have contributed to the fall in deaths, including an 11.5% rise in adults who received their first dose of antibiotics within four hours hospital admission.
A 3.7% increase in the proportion of adults who had a chest x-ray to help confirm the diagnosis within four hours admission was also recorded, as well as a 1.7% increase in the administration of appropriate antibiotics, in line with local guidelines, the study found.
“This fall in pneumonia deaths within 30 days of admission to hospital is very encouraging and suggests that local NHS hospitals have put in place measures to improve diagnosis, treatment and care,” said Professor Wei Shen Lim, consultant respiratory specialist at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and BTS member. “We hope that improvements continue to be made and that the new ‘Quality Standard’ from NICE accelerates this process”.
