A quality improvement project on improving the compliance of 'oxygen prescription with target saturations' in a district general hospital.

Giving an appropriate oxygen therapy plays an important role in the management of the patients. Inappropriate and improper use of oxygen can bring risk to the patients including hypercapnia. The British Thoracic Society (BTS) states that oxygen must be prescribed within desired target saturations of 94–98% and those at risk of hypercapnia should receive restrictive oxygen with a target saturation of 88–92%.1,2 We aimed at improving the rate of oxygen prescription in compliance with the BTS guidelines in a 300-bedded small district general hospital through education, training and staff awareness to improve the quality of healthcare. The objective was to achieve over 95% prescription rate of oxygen for patients who are to be given oxygen as part of their treatment during their stay in the …