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355 Improving awareness and documentation of DVLA guidelines on a cardiology ward: A quality improvement project (QIP)

heartjnl · 2026-06-09 · canonical JSON source

5 visible annotations · policy: published · automated confidence ≥ 75.00%

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Introduction Patients with cardiac diagnoses and undergoing specific interventions may be subject to driving restrictions. Clinicians have a professional responsibility, as outlined by General Medical Council, to be familiar with Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) regulations and to advise patients appropriately. We aimed to improve accurate documentation of DVLA driving advice in patients discharge summaries from the cardiology ward by increasing awareness and knowledge among resident doctors.Methods We performed a two cycle QIP with each cycle lasting a month. The numbers of patients included in the two cycles were 117 and 124. All cardiac patients admitted to the ward were included. Data was collected retrospectively from patients discharge summaries for the first cycle. Data analysis was done via Microsoft Excel. After the first cycle we organized teaching sessions, displayed posters on the ward and created a cardiology handbook for the resident doctors. After the changes were implemented, we carried out a second cycle.Results Among our study population, the most common presenting cardiac diagnosis was acute coronary syndrome. Majority of the patients were medically managed with a proportion undergoing interventions. The most common interventions performed were percutaneous coronary intervention and permanent pacemaker implantation for malignant brady-arrhythmias.In the first cycle, 58% were males. The median age was 69 years (IQR 56-90 years). DVLA advice was only given to 22% of the patients. In majority of the patients driving status was unknown. We found driving advice was more commonly given to patients undergoing interventions compared to those medically managed (42% v/s 13%).In the second cycle, 56% were males. The median age was 74 years (IQR 61-82 years). DVLA advice documentation on discharge summaries doubled from 22% to 44%. Although there was improvement from the first cycle it was still below our set standards. DVLA advice was more likely to be given to the intervention group compared to those medically managed (68% v/s 27%). When DVLA advice was given it was correctly given in majority of the patients across both cycles (91% v/s 90%)Conclusion Our QIP demonstrated the need for improvement in providing DVLA guidance to our patients. With the use of teaching sessions and a cardiology handbook we have improved DVLA guidance documentation and driving status. Our results have demonstrated there is a need to equally focus on the medically managed group when giving driving advice. Our aim is to introduce a DVLA section in the electronic discharge summaries to ensure sustainable change and a target above 95%.Abstract 355 Figure 1Percentage of cardiac patients with DVLA advice given