NICE Quality Standard: Pneumonia in Adults
The National Insititute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published a new Pneumonia Quality Standard. It contains two quality statements relevant to primary care:
- Adults should have a mortality risk assessment using the CRB65 score when they are diagnosed with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in primary care. Assessing mortality risk using the CRB65 score in primary care informs clinical judgement and supports decision-making about whether care can be managed in the community or if hospital assessment is needed. This ensures that treatment is based on the severity of the infection and will improve treatment outcomes.
- Adults with low-severity community-acquired pneumonia should be prescribed a 5-day course of a single antibiotic. Healthcare professionals should give people advice on seeking further help if their symptoms do not show signs of improving after 3 days of antibiotic therapy.
The PCRS-UK does not guarantee, and accepts no legal liability for, the accuracy, reliability, currency or completeness of any archived material or linked website. This is an archived resource/news item
The National Insititute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published a new Pneumonia Quality Standard. It contains two quality statements relevant to primary care:
- Adults should have a mortality risk assessment using the CRB65 score when they are diagnosed with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in primary care. Assessing mortality risk using the CRB65 score in primary care informs clinical judgement and supports decision-making about whether care can be managed in the community or if hospital assessment is needed. This ensures that treatment is based on the severity of the infection and will improve treatment outcomes.
- Adults with low-severity community-acquired pneumonia should be prescribed a 5-day course of a single antibiotic. Healthcare professionals should give people advice on seeking further help if their symptoms do not show signs of improving after 3 days of antibiotic therapy.
PCRS-UK supports this quality standard which can be used in conjunction with our Community-acquired pneumonia opinion sheet in adults which:
- Defines in more detail the clinical features that indicate a diagnosis of pneumonia
- Explains how to assess the severity of illness when the patient presents and when to refer to hospital.
Clinical features of community acquired pneumonia
PCRS-UK advises that most respiratory infections will be self-limiting but be alert for pneumonia if:
- A patient presents with fever >38 deg C
- There are signs of tachypnoea or respiratory distress
- New onset localised signs on chest examination
- Older people may present with confusion alone and young children with fever alone
Read the Quality Standard at: http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qs110
Download the PCS-UK Community-acquired pneumonia opinion sheet HERE
The PCRS-UK does not guarantee, and accepts no legal liability for, the accuracy, reliability, currency or completeness of any archived material or linked website. This is an archived resource/news item