Our NEWS (National Early Warning Score) implementation toolkit is featured in NHS Improvement’s latest patient safety resource alert, which brings together a range of resources to help NHS organisations reduce the harm caused by a failure to recognise and respond to patients of all ages at risk of deterioration.
Patients of all ages are known to suffer harm if deterioration in their condition is not detected or acted upon in a timely or effective manner. Research has shown that 26% of preventable deaths were related to failures in clinical monitoring. These included failure to set up systems, failure to respond to deterioration and failure to act on test results. In 2015 around 7% of patient safety incidents reported to the National Reporting and Learning System (NRLS) as death or severe harm were related to a failure to recognise or act on deterioration.
Many acute hospitals and other organisations have developed programmes and tools to improve the recognition and response to deterioration. This resource alert from NHS Improvement, supported by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) and the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), highlights that when Early Warning Scores (EWS) are placed within a whole safe system of care they produce better outcomes for patients. The resources included are designed to help NHS organisations take a whole system approach to reducing the harm caused by a failure to recognise and respond to patients of all ages at risk of deterioration. This includes working with patients and families; providing education and training; open and consistent reporting and learning; and improving patient safety culture.
Our NEWS implementation toolkit is included in the resource collection for the adult deteriorating patient, alongside analyses of NRLS data and learning from Serious Incident investigations, and a range of resources, toolkits and eLearning from organisations including the RCP. These resources support the timely recognition and initiation of treatments for the deteriorating patient, including patients deteriorating through sepsis.
Download our NEWS toolkit
For more information on our NEWS programme and toolkit, visit www.weahsn.net/what-we-do/enhancing-patient-safety/the-deteriorating-patient/news.
Find out more
Find out more about our Safer Care Through NEWS programme at our next event in Bristol on 15 September. This event will focus on the communication of NEWS at patient handover across their care pathway, aiming to learn and share from experiences across the region and to agree standards and methods of communication of NEWS between organisations, underpinned by quality improvement science and methodologies. For full details and how to book your place, visit www.weahsn.net/event/the-deteriorating-patient-handover-to-me-handover-to-you.
Posted on July 13, 2016