BEA-004 Taking a Lead in Ward Patient Safety

Developing a ward round checklist to improve patient safety

Checklists have been shown to improve care and reduce morbidity and mortality in the healthcare setting.[1] Their application in safety-critical industries outside of medicine continues to offer a strong argument for their application to medicine.[2] The daily in-patient medical ward round is a complex process and includes multiple potential risks to patient safety. This project aims to evaluat...

Taking the lead on lead.

Taking the lead.

Ward round documentation in a major trauma centre: can we improve patient safety?

Our objective was to improve documentation and patient safety in a major trauma centre. A retrospective audit was undertaken in March 2014. Ward round entries for each orthopaedic patients on three dates were assessed against standards and analysed. The audit was repeated in April 2014, and again in August 2014. Thorough documentation is paramount in a major trauma centre. It forms a useful rec...

Margaret McCartney: Taking patient safety seriously means minimum staffing levels.

What is essential care? Being clean, washed, dressed. Being helped to eat, drink, use the toilet. Receiving appropriate drugs on time. Being able to rest. Being treated humanely and with kindness. Being monitored properly. Being noticed when in pain or distressed, if blood pressure falls, if agitated, or if the bathroom door has been locked for so long that something may be seriously wrong. Bas...