Patient care in the Endocrinology and Nutrition Units of the National Health System. The RECALSEEN study

Objectives: To elaborate a diagnosis of the situation regarding the assistance in the Services and Units of Endocrinology and Nutrition (S degrees EyN) of the National Health System of Spain (SNHS) and to develop, based on the results obtained, proposals for improvement policies in the S degrees EyN. Material and methods: Cross-sectional descriptive study of the patients treated in the S degrees EyN departments of acute general hospitals of the SNHS in 2016. Data were obtained through RECALSEEN 2017, an "ad hoc" survey designed specifically for this purpose, and the Minimum Basic Data Set of discharges given by the S'EN of the SNHS (2015). Results: 88 responses of S degrees EyN have been obtained forma total of 125 acute general hospitals of more than 200 beds installed in the SNHS (70% answers). 47% of the S degrees EyN respondents were services and 31% sections. The average of endocrinologists by S degrees EyN was 7.4 +/- 4.4, and the average rate of endocrinologists per 100,000 inhabitants was 2.3 +/- 1. The most relevant care activities were the consultation (average of 12.3 first consultations per thousand inhabitants and year), day hospital (median of 2,000 sessions/year) and in-hospital consultations (median of 900 in-hospital consultations/year). 83% of S degrees EyNhad a Clinical Nutrition Unit. The number of dietitians, nutrition technicians and nutritionists in the Clinical Nutrition Unit was low. In relation to quality management, a large margin for improvement was detected; only 35% of S degrees EyN had a responsible of quality and 38% had implemented process management for those most frequent processes in the unit. There were notable differences in structure, resources and activity of S degrees EyN between Autonomous Communities. Conclusions: RECALSEEN 2017 survey is a useful tool for the analysis of S degrees EyN. The remarkable variability found in the structure, activity and management indicators probably indicates significant differences and, therefore, a wide margin for improvement. (C) 2018 SEEN y SED. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L.U. All rights reserved.