We are proud to share that a Quality Improvement (QI) project undertaken by our North East Hants Community Mental Health Recovery Service (CMHRS) team has been published in MDPI, an international peer-reviewed journal.
The project, led by Balazs Adam, Advanced Specialist Clinical Pharmacist and Osama Ayad, Specialty Doctor, focused on improving the detection and management of Clozapine-Induced Gastrointestinal Hypomotility (CIGH) in community mental health services. Clozapine is a second-generation antipsychotic licensed for refractory schizophrenia and psychosis in Parkinson’s disease.
CIGH is one of the most common and serious adverse effects of clozapine, with a reported case-mortality rate of 18%. While guidance on the monitoring and management of this condition is readily available based on observational studies conducted with inpatients, there are no widely adopted guidelines for use in the outpatient setting.
This paper discusses the development of a new approach and clinical tool to raise awareness of this issue and to improve identification and proactive management in community mental health services.
Following its publication, other NHS Trusts have expressed an interest in this important work. The team hopes that the problem of CIGH continues to be recognised and prioritised so that all people taking clozapine can be provided with the best up-to-date evidence-based treatment options.
Thank you to Milly Shirtliff, QI Lead for Children and Young People's Services, for her support with the project, as well as the clozapine clinic team at Aldershot Centre for Health for their unwavering enthusiasm and ongoing commitment to this work.
To view the article, please visit the MPDI website.