Releasing Time to Care / Leading Better Care

Sharing Good Practice

Please complete the template to share good practice. Please note, case studies should be a maximum of 500 words.

NHS Board / Forth Valley
Ward (please inc specialty, not just ward number) / Ward 1 Bannockburn Hospital, Older Peoples Services

Details of Improvement

Which module / programme is this case study about? / Handover module
What was the particular problem that this case study is about? / Information passed on at handovers was limited and generalised
How was this identified? / By Senior Charge Nurse
What were the implemented improvements (what tools/techniques did you use)? / An audit tool was used to monitor content & time of each handover, over a 1 week period. Areas of concern were highlighted in regard to patient information & patient safety issues. It was decided that E-Ward handover method would be piloted for a 6 week period.
What is the situation now? / Staff continue to use E-ward facility for handovers. Printed handover sheet used & updated by staff at least once daily. Printed sheets used as per SOP & shredded appropriately.
How is the change sustainable?
“Sustainability can be defined as being achieved when new ways of working and improved outcomes become the norm.” Describe how this improvement is sustainable. / Handover information now standardised & embedded in team practice.
Measurable outcome (please include at least one of the following)
Measurement of the improvement (i.e. graph / runchart / SPC chart – to ideally include a baseline with appropriate care with the use and labelling of graph axis to show credible evidence for sustained improvement). / Time saved at each handover – 5 minutes, total of 15 minutes per day. Total number of staff giving/receiving handovers per day – 6, therefore total time released per day – 90 minutes. Staff also find use of data reduces time required to complete discharge documentation. When E-ward pilot complete, monthly audits will be used to monitor quality & effectiveness.
What are the patient benefits? – e.g. qualitative data – results of patient surveys, patient stories, quotes from patients. / In process of capturing patients comments through Patient Experience Programme.
What are the staff benefits? – e.g. qualitative data results of staff surveys, staff stories, quotes from staff. / Will soon be introducing Staff Satisfaction Thermometers in the ward.
What are the organisational benefits? / 90+ hours of nursing time released per year. Improved care delivery.
How did staff feel before the improvement/during the improvement and after the improvement? / Before: some staff felt that the quality of the handovers was not adequate for appropriate patient care.
During: staff were apprehensive of more computer work & thought it would take time away from patients. Input of information initially time consuming.
After: as staff became more familiar with system, benefits became more obvious & staff have stated they feel better equipped with the increased patient information.
What are the lessons learnt and what would you do differently next time? / Team needs time to feel benefits of changes & need to have ownership for adapting changes to suit their areas. Future modules may need enhanced recording of staff satisfaction.
What plans are there to spread the improvement? / Other community hospital wards may use E-ward in the future & handover modules will be looked at in these wards

Contacts

Name, title, email and phone number for key contacts:

Contact / Name / Email / Telephone number
Case study owner / Frances Young / 01786 483125
Key department contact (e.g. clinical lead/unit manager) / Carol Innes (RTC Facil) / 01786 483106

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