BMJ Best Practice in action: From bedside decisions to local guidelines
Peterborough City Hospital, like many district general hospitals, has no on-call dermatology service. As a result, patients presenting to A&E with skin disease are assessed and managed by non-specialists, often without local guidance to support decision-making. A baseline audit of approximately 500 skin-related presentations revealed the scale of the challenge: one in five A&E diagnoses differed from the specialist diagnoses and A&E management is not 100% compliant with current evidence-based management. In response, we used BMJ Best Practice to develop local, formulary-aligned dermatology guidelines in collaboration with Dermatology and Acute Medicine departments. While formal approval of these guidelines is underway, we secured one-click institutional access to BMJ Best Practice via the Trust intranet, putting evidence-based guidance at the bedside for every clinician.
This practical session will explore how easily visible and accessible evidence can help standardise care where specialist support is limited. We will share what worked, what didn't, and low-cost interventions that other organisations can implement without additional funding.
Key takeaways:
- Identifying gaps in dermatology care through audit.
- Using BMJ Best Practice to support frontline decision-making.
- Developing local guidance through multidisciplinary collaboration.
- Implementing sustainable, low-cost quality improvement initiatives.
