Resuscitation Council UK (RCUK) is conducting a survey of healthcare professionals to help us understand the rehabilitation services provided to survivors of out of hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in the UK.
Launching today (30 June), we’re aiming to understand the services provided by healthcare organisations to this group of patients before and after discharge from hospital to inform the development of a Quality Standard.
It is aimed at healthcare professionals who work in hospitals and are involved in the management and treatment of patients after a cardiac arrest.
Approximately 30,000 people across the UK each year experience an out of hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). Resuscitation Council UK is committed to learning more about how we, and the wider healthcare community, can support survivors with effective rehabilitation.
We are carrying out this survey now as we have recently published RCUK Guidelines 2021. Within these Guidelines (Post-resuscitation care section), there are recommendations that care providers will:
- perform functional assessments of physical and non-physical impairments before discharge from the hospital to identify early rehabilitation needs and refer to rehabilitation if necessary
- organise follow-up for all cardiac arrest survivors within 3 months after hospital discharge, including:
- screening for cognitive problems
- screening for emotional problems and fatigue
- providing information and support for survivors and family members.
RCUK intends to develop a Quality Standard for survivors of OHCA and the results from this survey will help us to understand what’s offered now, the patient need and any barriers to delivering services for this group of patients.
The Quality Standard will provide guidance to help those developing and delivering follow-up services across the UK. This survey is the first step of the process towards the Quality Standard, and we will be surveying and talking to other groups during the process.
We are looking for healthcare professionals who are involved in the management and treatment of patients after a cardiac arrest to complete this survey. We are specifically looking for respondents who can answer on behalf of their organisation.
The survey will close on Friday 10 September 2021.
Share your survival story
If you are a cardiac arrest survivor, or a loved one of someone who has survived a cardiac arrest, we’d love to hear your story, so we can better understand your experience. If you’d like to share your story with us, please get in touch.