Home Phototherapy – Audit of Current Practice and Assessment of Family Feedback

Background: Neonatal jaundice is a common condition in babies. Treatment with phototherapy often means babies remain in hospital or require readmission. The provision of home phototherapy services would reduce hospitalisation. It is a service that Heartlands Hospital is keen to develop and between April and November 2018 they trialled home phototherapy on 14 babies.

Objective: Ensure compliance with our local guideline and gain feedback of family’s experiences of the service.

Methods: Performed a retrospective audit of our local guidelines, along with assessment for each baby of required blood tests and days phototherapy. After completing treatment parents completed a feedback questionnaire about their experience and we collated responses.

Results: All 14 babies had the correct paperwork before commencing home phototherapy. All of the babies had their blood group checked along with a full blood count and DCT, but only 4 babies had a conjugated bilirubin tested. The average days spent on home phototherapy was 1.5 days(range 1-3days)and 22 days of home phototherapy were given in total. Each baby required either 2 or 3 bilirubin measurements whilst on home phototherapy. All babies had phototherapy stopped appropriately and rebound levels remained well below treatment threshold. 1 baby required readmission for more intensive phototherapy. We received 12 responses from the questionnaires. 11 families had only good comments about the service. 1 family had mixed comments, however the negatives given related to equipment. Everyone commented on how home phototherapy had allowed them to be together as a family and all families said they would chose to use the service again.

Conclusions: Home phototherapy was a popular alternative to treatment in hospital for all the families who received it. We did not identify any major problems during the trial period. The development of a home phototherapy service would be beneficial for families and the hospital.