Safer Ward Processes make immediate impact

Colleagues from different wards across the Trust showcased their latest innovations, ideas and work at the Safer Ward Processes learning session on Wednesday.

The Safer Ward Processes collaborative is one of just five workstreams which are forming part of the Trust’s Patient Flow Improvement Programme (PFIP), a movement which all colleagues are encouraged to embrace.

The wards involved in the first cohort of the Safer Ward Processes are Ward 5 (Wheeze Warriors), Ward 35 (Ortho Warriors), Ward C1 (Coasting Forward),  Ward 37 (Party Hearties), Ward 11 (Flow Is The Way To Go), Ward 15a (Flow Maxers), Ward 23 (Talabulous) and Ward 26 (Resilient Alphas).

At the learning session on Wednesday, in addition to hearing how wards had worked to increase discharges before 5pm, there was also an introductory talk from Deputy Chief Executive, Steve Christian who discussed how every discharge support the pathway for FIVE patients.

The FIVE Patients are…

  1. The patient we discharge
  2. The patient waiting in the assessment area to access a specialist inpatient bed
  3. The patient in ED awaiting the assessment area
  4. The patient waiting in the ambulance to access the Emergency Department
  5. The patient at home waiting for the ambulance to arrive

It’s important to remember that every action we take on flow and discharge has an impact on patients elsewhere within the pathway. This was underlined later on in the session when Gemma Latham-Geall, Clinical Head of Patient Flow discussed ‘The Butterfly Effect’.

Reflecting on the sessions, Natalie Rixon, Urgent and Emergency Care Programme Director said: “I was delighted to see the energy, enthusiasm and determination from all teams today, to reduce delays and improve the time of discharge for our patients. The strength of leadership shown was inspiring and I’m excited to visit each of the wards in the following weeks to support the next stage of our improvement journey.

“It is a privilege for me to be a part of the collaborative and to work with all of the multi-disciplinary team members, that together will deliver significant improvements to patient flow throughout our hospital.”

An additional eight wards will be invited to start the quality improvement collaborative in December 22, a further eight in March 23 and the final cohort in June 23 so that all of our incredible staff, that support ward based care will have the opportunity to join the improvement movement.

If you are keen to hear more, please do not hesitate to get in touch, natalie.rixon@nhs.net Urgent and Emergency Care Programme Director would be delighted to hear from you.

Posted in Home Page, Press Releases, Rethinking Flow: The Patient Flow Improvement Programme.