FRONTLINE FOCUS ON IMPROVEMENT F
or the past year, wards and departments have been supported with a new way of working that introduces a collaborative approach to making improvements. A number of shared decision making councils are up and running across the hospital leading to improvements in patient care, working procedures and the local environment. The success of the councils lies in the underlying principle that change should be led from the frontline with the support of their team’s management. Shared decision-making facilitator, Catherine Telford, said: “It’s a new type of process for NGH. It recognises our frontline staff are often best placed to see where improvements are needed but they don’t always feel empowered to make
change happen. A shared decision-making council strips away the hierarchy in favour of a collaborative approach to identifying opportunities for improvement. The impetus for change comes from the team and is delivered by the team.”
Case study: Creaton Ward Maxine Chapman, Creaton ward sister, said: “It’s going back to the floor. It’s not about a senior member of the team giving instructions about what’s going to change, it’s about the team identifying and owning the change. “Everyone engages with the change because everyone is involved. “It gives us a way to capture our lightbulb moments. All ideas and suggestions are listened to and looked into; can we do this and how can we make it happen.
“We’ve had a shared decision-making council for a year now and it has really changed the culture on the ward. Everyone feels part of the journey. We keep a scrapbook to record everything that’s been achieved so we can see the impact and see how we’ve worked together to make a difference.” Some of the improvements that have taken place on Creaton ward include: the introduction of an oral care chart for
each patient a patient bubble board where patients
can record their thought of the day sending a bereavement card to convey
the team’s condolences and sympathies to the families of patients who have passed away providing a massage chair in the ward
staff room to help employees feel rested after a break
Factfile A council can be created on a ward, across a speciality or around a theme. A t NGH, we had six initial councils: Creaton ward; paediatrics; ITU; midwifery; theatres; and newly qualified forum. Other departments have since created their own council or are in the process of starting one. E ach council has a chairperson who represents them at the leadership council, which is chaired by director of nursing, midwifery and patient services Carolyn Fox. Here members of the senior nursing and practice development team give support and advice, and council projects and best practice are shared M embers of each council have six hours each month dedicated time to work as a group to plan projects and implement change.
New symbol for children’s assessments Northampton General Hospital’s paediatric department has a new face: CODEY the Red Bear has arrived to help us identify our younger patients who have scored high on our assessments of their health needs. The Paediatric Early Warning Score (PEWS) is a specialised tool to measure a child’s clinical status and helps to identify signs of deterioration. Previously, when a child scored high on the assessment, we used a red triangle as a visual prompt for our staff.
Now, the red triangle has been replaced with CODEY the Red Bear in a bid to reduce the distress experienced by our younger patients as well as helping us to convey important clinical information without disclosing confidential patient details. The idea and character were brought to life by our resuscitation officer Andy Winter: “I was tasked by paediatric consultant Dr John Hewertson, to come up with something less daunting than the existing triangle currently used
around the hospital. One of my all-time favourite Disney films is Brother Bear, a tale featuring a family of Kodiak bears… Kodiak sounded like Code-y to me and from there it was a small trip to come up with CODEY the Red Bear! I drew up a rough sketch using the movie as my inspiration and sent it over to our graphic designer Laurence.”
Insight ❘ 23