Improving hospital handovers for patients

Healthcare professionals from NHS trusts across the North West have been working together in a series of events to share ideas and best practice for improving hospital handovers.

The collaboration has helped to reduce the number of handover delays of over 60 minutes in the North West by 47 per cent, only slightly short of its aim of achieving a 50 per cent reduction by 31 March 2023. This aim was chosen because evidence shows that longer hospital handovers increase patient harm and reduce the ability of ambulances to respond to urgent calls.

The joined-up approach which we led alongside NHS health and care quality improvement organisation AQUA and NHS England North West included representatives from 20 NHS trusts covering 26 emergency departments. It involved getting together to come up with innovative ideas and putting them into action. We then worked together to develop new ideas and ways of working before coming back together. Some of the initiatives that have been put in place include managing surges of patients presenting at hospitals over a short period, using daily data to support decision making and going back to basics by looking at ways to make improvements to existing processes.

Sector Manager for South Lancashire Dave Suart, who has been contributing in the events, said: “Improving hospital handover times helps us get to our patients more quickly. One example of the improvements that have come from this joint working is the introduction of direct ambulance admission to the Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) service at Royal Preston Hospital. This means that where appropriate we can direct patients away from A&E where they can be rapidly assessed, diagnosed and treated without being admitted to a ward, and if clinically safe to do so, will go home the same day their care is provided. This improves patient experience and frees up ambulances to attend to more patients in the community.”

Plans are now being put in place to build on this success and get back together to make more improvements going forward.

Director of Quality, Innovation and Improvement, Maxine Power said: “We know that relationships matter, and I am exceptionally proud of what has been achieved by working together with a group of passionate people with great ideas. Their drive to make changes ultimately provides our patients with a better experience when they use our services.

“Going forward, we will continue to build on what we have achieved so far to involve more partners and keep on learning from each other using the data that we’ve gathered and maximising the collaborative efforts to make a real difference for our patients.”