An audit of electronic CPA documentation

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to present an audit which assessed compliance in documentation of crisis and contingency plans in the electronic Care Programme Approach (CPA) for working age adult patients discharged from an in-patient setting.Design methodology approach - Two explicit and evidence-based standards were audited and a full audit cycle was completed. The electronic CPA documentation for all discharges from the adult in-patient beds of the Trust June 2007 formed the sample for Cycle 1 and the same from June 2008 formed the sample for Cycle 2. Data were obtained from the local electronic database.Findings - The paper finds that the rate of electronic CPA documentation increased over time, as did the crisis and contingency plan documentation within those CPA documents. Although the electronic CPA documentation improved from 33 per cent in June 2007 to 56 per cent in June 2008 (χ2 7.2, df 1, p < 0.01) with a significant improvement on most items measured, they were still far from achieving 100 per cent standards.Practical implications - Clear guidance making the electronic CPA documentation mandatory so that it can be easily accessed out of hours in a crisis situation would be welcome. It is an important step in reducing the 90-day re-admission rates to in-patient units in psychiatry.Originality value - The paper is the first of its kind and demonstrates that dissemination and re-audit aimed at better electronic documentation are needed to achieve high standards of clinical practice.