PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Dimitris A Tsitsikas
AU  - Natasha Lewis
AU  - Kayleigh McCloskey
AU  - John Meenan
AU  - Rhys Hall
AU  - Dede-Kossi Osakonor
AU  - Basabi Chaterjee
AU  - Jorge Cartier
AU  - Jaye Ferrigi
AU  - Jenny Darkwah
AU  - Bala Sirigireddy
TI  - Remodelling of specialist services enables safe reduction in hospital admissions of patients with sickle cell disease: Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic
AID  - 10.7861/clinmed.2020-0474
DP  - 2020 Sep 29
TA  - Clinical Medicine
PG  - clinmed.2020-0474
4099  - http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/early/2020/09/24/clinmed.2020-0474.short
4100  - http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/early/2020/09/24/clinmed.2020-0474.full
AB  - Sickle cell disease is characterised by recurrent painful crises often leading to hospitalisation. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it was important to try to reduce the need for hospital admission for these high-risk patients while at the same time ensuring that hospital avoidance did not put them at risk of deterioration from disease-related complications. In the 3-month period between March and May 2020, there was a significant reduction in the number of hospital admissions as well as mean length of stay compared with the mean figures over the same months in the preceding 5 years (2015–19), with an overall reduction in inpatient days of 77%. There were no cases of unsafe hospital avoidance or presentations to hospital that were inappropriately delayed. Frequent telephone communication with patients and provision of ambulatory care were, among others, two very important means of supporting our patient population.