6758 Readmission within 30 days post discharge from the neonatal unit at tameside and glossop integrated care NHS foundation trust, ashton – under – lyne

Objectives Babies discharged from the neonatal unit often get readmitted to hospital for various reasons some of which could possibly be avoided while some are unavoidable.¹ Aims/objectives: To determine the readmission rate of babies within 30 days of discharge from our neonatal unit. To determine if there are modifiable risk factors for readmission. To suggest possible ways to reduce readmission rate and provide more home support to these babies and their families. Methods We carried out an audit of all the babies discharged from the neonatal unit but readmitted to the children's unit of Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust, Ashton – Under – Lyne within 30 days of discharge between May 1 2022 – March 31 2023. Results Twenty out of 221 babies discharged from the neonatal unit within the period under review were readmitted giving a readmission rate of 9.0%. Out of the 20 readmissions, 13 (65%) were born preterm while 7 (35%) were born at term. Eleven of the readmitted babies were discharged at corrected gestational age (cGA) of < 37 weeks. Out of these, 7 (63.6%) and 6 (54.5%) were readmitted because of feeding and breathing difficulties amongst other reasons. Nine babies were discharged at cGA of ≥ 37 weeks, out of which 3 (33.3%) and 2 (22.2%) were readmitted because of jaundice and weight loss respectively. All the babies who were discharged at cGA of < 37 weeks spent at least 4 days in hospital upon readmission, while all the babies discharged at cGA of ≥ 37 weeks spent at most 2 days in hospital upon readmission. Conclusion Recommendations Community nursing support for all babies <37 weeks. Reconsider threshold for discharging babies considering cGA, underlying health issues and social background. Education/support offered to parents prior to discharge. Conclusion Identifying potential modifiable factors to prevent early readmission and implementing the necessary measures will maximize ideal timing of NICU discharge and minimize cost both to the family and the NHS. Reference J Bernado, C Johnson, A Kaiser, S Aucott, P Donohue. Early Readmissions following NICU discharges among a national sample. Paediatrics 2021;147:694–695.