title: A national audit of standards of care for women with vulval conditions and survey of attitudes to nurse practitioners in vulval services in the UK.
abstract: This national audit assessed whether UK specialist vulval clinics adhere to the British Society of Vulval Diseases (BSSVD) document 'Standards of care for women with vulval conditions' published in 2013 and benchmarked clinician attitudes towards nurse practitioners in vulval services. Audit standards were based on the BSSVD guidance. All BSSVD and British Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology or BSCCP members were surveyed via two electronic questionnaires. Results demonstrate that the majority of specialist vulval clinics in the UK are non-compliant with the standards set out for specialist vulval services. The majority of clinicians would support the introduction of clinical nurse specialists to vulval services, but there is need for development of a national training programme. In conclusion, significant improvements are required in provision of patient information, guidelines, access to multidisciplinary services, multidisciplinary team or MDT processes and data recording in UK specialist vulval services.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology , Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust , Poole , UK.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Innamaa
authors.affiliation: b Department of Gynaecological Oncology , Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust , Sheffield , UK.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Tidy
authors.affiliation: c Department of Gynaecological Oncology , Nottingham University Hospitals Trust , Nottingham , UK.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nunns
authors.affiliation: b Department of Gynaecological Oncology , Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust , Sheffield , UK.
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Palmer
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008485:Medical Audit / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009722:Nurse Practitioners; D059039:Standard of Care; D006113:United Kingdom; D014845:Vulvar Diseases / Q000628:therapy*
keywords: Clinical nurse specialist; standards; vulval services