Throughout March, CHFT had an extra focus on improving our performance in key areas at CHFT.

Here is a summary of what we have been looking at, where improvements have been made and the next steps.

It was a tremendous all-out effort by everyone - including the Acute Floor at HRI (pictured) - and we've attached some of the feedback and comments so far.

We learnt an amazing amount regarding quality and we were able to achieve the following:

  • The team have been working with the NEWS2 score ensuring that all scores are entered correctly
  • We have adapted the hand over from the Emergency Department to wards and Acute Floors to wards by using and SBAR style agreed by senior clinical colleagues. Teams committed to using EPR to gain all relevant information
  • The team appreciate the need for specialist patients to go to the correct area first time and the Clinical Commander are actively keeping an Orthopaedic bed on ward 19 whenever possible
  • Monitoring transfers from ICU to meet the standard
  • Early identification of patients suitable to outlie
  • Developed a criteria for those patients that need Reg review in our Emergency Departments
  • Developed a clear process for where orthopaedic ambulatory patients are seen
  • Reassessed the use of Flu POCT
  • Reduction in stroke rehab beds by reducing outliers
  • Emergency Care Standard (ECS) target for March 94.46%

Going forward we will be setting up a team working out of central ops to continue to maintain the ECS target, but also to work on the following via a task and finish group. The central ops team are going to start engaging with ward areas from next week.

  • Firstnet for ambulatory areas
  • Portering capacity and demand
  • Medical Outlier criteria and points of contact
  • Nurse in Charge mobile phones for swifter handover saving nursing time/Vocera
  • Guidance for transferring paeds from ED and get signed off at paeds forum
  • ED 8-10hr waits
  • ED attendance reduction/Front end triage

At the start we were wanting to look at the following key areas: 

  • Achieving the 95% Emergency Care Standard (ECS).
  • Referral To Treatment (RTT)
  • Incomplete waiting list
  • Patients over 18 weeks on the pathway
  • The number of patients waiting over 62 days for diagnosis or treatment on a cancer pathway
  • The volume of overdue complaints for the month of March