Deadline extended for VRIII guideline audit

By Editor
21st August 2018
Audits, Clinical guidance Guidelines

The deadline for an audit into the use of a popular guideline covering variable rate intravenous insulin infusion (VRIII) in inpatients has been extended to September 30.

In 2014, the Joint British Diabetes Societies – Inpatient Care Group (JBDS-IP) launched the document, designed to guide non-specialist teams in the appropriate and safe use of VRIII.

Now the JBDC is looking to update the guidelines and wants to “gather some data as to its safety and ease of use”.

Dr Stella George, a consultant diabetes and endocrinology at the East and North Herts NHS Trust, is leading the audit. She said: “We hope that we would then launch a revised version based on the data we gather, with a particular focus on safety.

“We are asking teams to send in five completed forms to me. They are completely anonymised and hold no patient identifiable data. Any member of the diabetes team can fill it in from diabetes specialist nurses and registrars, right through to consultants.”

The organisation compiled the guidance because it was recognised that the use of VRIII is a tool commonly used to achieve normoglycaemia in hospital inpatients. Most acute trusts have guidelines for its use, but there was a wide variation across the country, increasing the risk of errors which can potentially lead to significant morbidity and mortality.

It was also thought that VRIII was often used when not indicated, its duration was unnecessarily prolonged and the step down to other glucose lowering medication was often not practiced safely.

The JBDC document was designed to be a practical guide to be used by any healthcare professional who manage medical in-patients with hyperglycaemia. Its main aim was to allow the VRIII to be used safely, effectively and efficiently for this specific group of inpatients.

It is divided into several sections, including the evidence base for its recommendations, the practicalities of when to use a VRIII, how it is to be set up, when it should be discontinued and how a safe transition to other medication can be achieved. Safety of the use of the VRIII is emphasised throughout.

Each form should be returned separately and sent to Dr George, via her email address which is stellageorge@nhs.net, with the name of their trust and the number of the form eg East and North Herts 1; East and North Herts 2 – which will help organisers identify each separate return.

To access the form, click here.

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