Tuesday 31 March 2015

Falls in older people - NICE quality standard

"This quality standard covers assessment after a fall and preventing further falls (secondary prevention) in older people living in the community and during a hospital stay. Secondary prevention focuses on interventions targeted at older people with a history of falls."

Falls in older people: assessment after a fall and preventing further falls
NICE quality standard [QS86]
March 2015

Read more here.

Commissioning services to support women and girls with female genital mutilation

"This documents sets out some key considerations when embarking upon the process to commission services to support FGM survivors. It reflects the standards and characteristics which have developed where commissioning in this area has been successful, and sets out particular elements which should either always be considered or provided."

Commissioning services to support women and girls with female genital mutilation
S Creighton, FGM Prevention programme team
Department of Health
March 2015

Read more here.

Investing in children's mental health

"Our review of the evidence shows that for all these conditions there are interventions that are not only effective in improving outcomes but also good value for money, in some cases outstandingly so, as measured by the surplus of measurable economic benefits over the costs of intervention." 

Investing in children's mental health: A review of evidence on the costs and benefits of increased service provision
L Khan, M Parsonage, J Stubbs
Centre Forum’s Mental Health Commission, Centre for Mental Health
February 2015

Read more here.

NHS England Business Plan

"For 2015/16 NHS England will focus on ten priorities to both improve quality and services, to drive better value for money, and to build the foundations for the future health and care system."

Building the NHS of the Five Year Forward View: NHS England Business Plan 2015/16
NHS England,Transformation & Corporate Operations, Business Planning Team
March 2015

Read more here.

Improving quality of life for people with dementia and their carers through impact investment

"The development of products and services to tackle dementia needs more proactive support from government, policymakers, charities and healthcare professionals"

Remember me: Improving quality of life for people with dementia and their carers through impact investment 
E Ní Ógáin, K Mountain

Nesta
March 2015

Read more here.

Monday 30 March 2015

Competition and privatisation in the NHS

"In this briefing we consider seven key questions relating to the role of competition and the role of non-NHS providers within the NHS."

Evolution, revolution or confusion? Competition and privatisation in the NHS
E Spencelayh
The Health Foundation
March 2015

Read more here.

Evaluation: what to consider

"Inspired by the most commonly asked questions, this guide is intended to assist those new to evaluation by suggesting methodological and practical considerations and providing resources to support further learning." 

Evaluation: what to consider: Commonly asked questions about how to approach evaluation of quality improvement in health care
The Health Foundation
March 2015

Read more here.

Using communications approaches to spread improvement

"The guide is intended for those actively engaged in health care improvement work. It introduces key
concepts about spreading ideas, and examines the evidence about the role communications can play. It then suggests practical actions you can take to effectively communicate and spread your improvement work."

Using communications approaches to spread improvement: A practical guide to help you effectively communicate and spread your improvement work
S Randall
The Health Foundation
March 2015

Read more here.

Friday 27 March 2015

Compliance of monitoring side effects of medication in the treatment of ADHD

"The audit was carried out to determine compliance of monitoring side effects of medication in the treatment of ADHD/ADD in children and young people as recommended by NICE Clinical Guideline 72. The audit was deemed necessary to provide a basis on which to carry out future audits and to improve the service."

To determine compliance of monitoring side effects of medication in the treatment of ADHD in children and young people as recommended by NICE CG72
NICE Shared Learning example
South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust
March 2015

Read more here.

NICER Guidance: fostering an organisational culture of evidence-based decision making

"Our objectives were to ensure that the concept and practice of evidence-based decision making was widely understood and adopted in our commissioning and de-commissioning decisions, project start-up business cases and individual funding request evaluations."

NICER Guidance: fostering an organisational culture of evidence-based decision making
Organisation: Suffolk County Council
NICE Shared Learning example
March 2015

Read more here.

Management of Urinary Incontinence in females

"The community continence team and Gynaecologists at RCHT therefore worked together and developed an 'easy step' referral pathway for women with symptoms of UI [urinary incontinence]. This has been in use now and has now ensured a more streamlined and easy to follow guidance pathway. Overall, this has improved patient satisfaction and has improved appropriate referrals to the secondary care service thus saving costs."

Management of Urinary Incontinence in females: Are we really NICE?
Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust
NICE Shared Learning example
March 2015

Read more here.

Stopping perioperative antibiotics for post-tonsillectomy morbidity

"Considering the implications for development of antibiotic resistance with increased antibiotic use and the lack of clinical benefits demonstrated by this review, routine perioperative antibiotic prescription for tonsillectomy is not recommended."

Stopping perioperative antibiotics for post-tonsillectomy morbidity: QIPP Case Study
Quality and productivity collection examples
The UK Cochrane Centre and NICE
March 2015

Read more here.

NICE Guideline: Depression in children and young people

The NICE guideline for depression in children and young people has been updated, with a number of changes to the recommendations for safe and effective antidepressant use.

Depression in children and young people: Identification and management in primary, community and secondary care
NICE guidelines [CG28]
March 2015

Find out more here.

Safer fluid prescribing

"The National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) released new fluid guidelines following data suggesting 20% of patients receiving fluids suffer adversely (2013). This quality improvement group assessed fluid prescribing in a tertiary teaching centre and introduced a new fluid- prescribing chart to align practice with NICE recommendations."

Safer fluid prescribing at North Bristol Trust: Bringing practice in line with NICE Guidance with a redesign of the fluid prescription chart
J Andersson et al.
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2015;4: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u203816.w1911

Read more here.

Are people waiting longer for health care?

"This overview considers the performance of the NHS in England in providing timely access to health care during the current parliament. We look at available data on waiting time targets across key services, including accident and emergency (A&E), ambulances, cancer treatment, secondary care and primary care."

Are people waiting longer for health care?
T Gardner
The Health Foundation
March 2015

Read more here.

Multifocal Clinical Performance Improvement Across 21 Hospitals

"Improving quality and safety across an entire healthcare system in multiple clinical areas within a short time frame is challenging. We describe our experience with improving inpatient quality and safety at Kaiser Permanente Northern California."

Multifocal Clinical Performance Improvement Across 21 Hospitals
Crawford, Barbara; Skeath, Melinda; Whippy, Alan
Journal For Healthcare Quality, 2015 - 37(2), pp. 117–125

Read more here.

Thursday 26 March 2015

The NHS under the coalition government: NHS performance

"Our verdict overall is that NHS performance held up well for the first three years of the parliament but has now slipped, with waiting times at their highest levels for many years and an unprecedented number of hospitals reporting deficits. "

The NHS under the coalition government: Part two: NHS performance
J Appleby, B Baird, J Thompson, J Jabbal
The King's Fund
March 2015

Read more here.

NHS Choices Mental Health apps Library

This week, NHS England have released a directory of NHS endorsed mobile apps to support mental health. The apps are hoped to improve access to psychological therapies.

For more information and to access the apps go here.

Improving mental health services for young people

"The report sets out how much of this can be achieved through better working between the NHS, local authorities, voluntary and community services, schools and other local services. It also makes it clear that many of these changes can be achieved by working differently, rather than needing significant investment."

Improving mental health services for young people
Department of Health
March 2015

Read more here.

'Think Kidneys'

Think Kidneys is the national programme of NHS England in partnership with the UK Renal Registry.

"We will work with many different individuals and groups – expert professionals and patients – on the development of clinical tools and resources that will change behaviour and improve patient care. We will also work to develop commissioning pathways so that current incidence rates of acute kidney injury are improved."

Read more here.

Tackling the myths about outcomes in health

"Designing services on the basis of outcomes is trickier than designing services to deliver specified activity or outputs, but it is also more likely to result in a better and more cost-effective service"

Outcomes based approaches to healthcare: Tackling the myths about outcomes in health 
Outcomes Based Healthcare
2014

Read more here.
















The IDEAL Collaboration

"The IDEAL Collaboration is an initiative to improve the quality of research in surgery... IDEAL is a set of recommendations for the evidence-based practice of surgery. It is geared towards participants in all stages of gathering and using evidence for the ultimate goal of improving outcomes for patients."

Find out more here.

The future of commissioning (conference brochure)

"The Five Year Forward View has made the commissioning of new models of care a priority for meeting the unprecedented challenges ahead for the health service, both to coordinate care around the patient and deliver better value care. The next Parliament must ensure innovative and effective commissioning of these new models across the health and care sector."

The future of commissioning (conference brochure)
S Stevens et al.
Reform
March 2015

Read more here.

New care models explained: How the NHS can successfully integrate care

"Multispecialty community providers (or MCPs) and the primary and acute care services (or PACS) are new types of delivery models, integrating hitherto relatively poorly coordinated care providers into new and efficient organisations or alliances capable of delivering on the “triple aim” – a better patient experience, better population health and more efficient use of resources."

New care models explained: How the NHS can successfully integrate care
R Lewis
Health Service Journal
March 2015

Read more here.

Incentives to follow Best Practice in Health Care

"OHE has published a Briefing by Karlsberg Schaffer, Sussex and Feng summarising the evidence on incentives that encourage providers of health care to follow guidance on best practice, particularly where that guidance requires the use of specific medicines or other health technologies. These incentives include monetary and non-monetary rewards."

Incentives to follow Best Practice in Health Care

S Karlsberg Schaffer, J Sussex, Y Feng
Office of Health Economics
February 2015

Read more here (registration required).

Barriers to improvement in the NHS

"Every day, teams within the NHS strive to make things better, but individual, organisational and system-wide barriers get in the way. This evidence scan compiles published research about the key barriers to improvement in the NHS."

What's getting in the way?: Barriers to improvement in the NHS
D de Silva
The Health Foundation
February 2015

Read more here.

How five UK trusts built quality improvement capability at scale within their organisations

"The report provides an insight into how and why the trusts embarked on their improvement journeys; the steps they took at each stage; the impact they achieved; and the challenges they encountered along the way." 

Building the foundations for improvement: How five UK trusts built quality improvement capability at scale within their organisations
B Jones, T Woodhead
The Health Foundation
February 2015

Read more here.

Wednesday 25 March 2015

How does the NHS compare with health systems in other countries?

"The UK’s health system has strong foundations to work with. However, more could be done to prevent and treat ill health, both within and outside of the remit of the NHS."

How does the NHS compare with health systems in other countries?
N Berry
The Health Foundation
March 2015

Read more here.

Is the NHS becoming more person-centred?

"This overview examines how the NHS in England has performed over this parliament in relation to indicators that reflect person-centred care. We consider a range of measures including: dignity, respect and compassion; patient involvement in decisions; support for self-management and care planning."

Is the NHS becoming more person-centred?
S Wood, A Collins, A Taylor
The Health Foundation
March 2015

Read more here.

Is mental health care improving?

"This overview uses the available data to assess the quality of health care services for people with mental health problems in England. It focuses on three different groups: adults with common mental health problems, adults with severe and enduring mental health problems, and children and young people."

Is mental health care improving?
F Dormon
The Health Foundation
March 2015

Read more here.

The quality of NHS services during the current parliament

"This briefing summarises trends in the quality of NHS care in England since the 2010 general election. "

Swimming against the tide? The quality of NHS services during the current parliament
T Gardner
The Health Foundation
March 2015

Read more here.

Is the NHS getting safer?

"This overview considers how the NHS has performed over the current parliament in relation to patient safety. We look at data relating to reported incidents and harm, episodes of care free of certain types of harm, and patient and staff perceptions of safety."

Is the NHS getting safer?
J Illingworth
The Health Foundation
March 2015

Read more here.

Monday 23 March 2015

Improving pain assessment and managment in stroke patients

"After introducing the Abbey pain scale and creating a nurse advocate, an improvement was shown such that only 5% of patients did not have their pain recorded and all had adequate pain relief."

Improving pain assessment and managment in stroke patients
J Nesbitt, S Moxham, G Ramadurai, L Williams
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2015;4: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u203375.w3105

Read more here.

Improving the quality of documentation of referrals to neurosurgery

"The aim of this project was to identify the current level of documentation and improve this through departmental education and implementation of a referral proforma. National guidelines and a literature review were used to formulate the gold standard for high quality documentation."

Giving ourselves a head start: improving the quality of documentation of referrals to neurosurgery
M Storey, S Webster
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2015;4: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u203531.w2516

Read more here.

Mortality meetings in geriatric medicine: strategies for improvement

"Mortality meetings are an essential part of junior doctor training and hospital clinical governance. There is a tendency for these meetings to be poorly organised, poorly focused and poorly attended, especially by disciplines other than doctors. In this improvement project we were able to make our mortality meetings more multidisciplinary and a better learning experience for staff."

Mortality meetings in geriatric medicine: strategies for improvement
J Dunbar, J George
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2015;4: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u202625.w3247

Read more here.

Improving patient safety by implementing a new general surgical on-call rota for FY1 doctors

"This project demonstrates that altering rotas can improve junior doctor's perception of patient safety, and also shows that junior team members, with departmental support, can overcome barriers to change and implement new rotas."

Improving patient safety by implementing a new general surgical on-call rota for FY1 doctors
H Walton, M Uheba
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2015;4: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u206069.w3327

Read more here.

Rationing in the NHS

"Our second policy briefing in the run up to the General Election 2015 provides an overview of the current difficulties in making decisions about rationing healthcare in England, and sets out some of the challenges faced by policy makers in the future. "

Rationing in the NHS
N Edwards, H Crump, M Dayan
Nuffield Trust
February 2015

Read more here.


Access to hospital care: is the NHS on target?

"Our fourth policy briefing in the run-up to the General Election 2015 examines how hospital trusts in England are performing against six national targets. The paper argues against the notion that dips in performance can be attributed to a handful of poorly performing hospital trusts, and finds there has been deterioration across the board in some measures."

Access to hospital care: is the NHS on target?
H Dorning, I Blunt
Nuffield Trust
March 2015

Read more here.


Looking forward: the views of health and social care leaders

"In the run-up to the 2015 General Election, the Nuffield Trust is regularly surveying a panel of 100 health and social care leaders in England for their views on a range of issues, including the state of the NHS and social care system, and what they believe should be the priority areas for reform during the next Parliament."

Looking forward: the views of health and social care leaders
Health and Social Care Leaders’ Panel
Nuffield Trust
March 2015

Read more here.

Thursday 19 March 2015

The future is now: The innovations of today that point to better health care tomorrow

"Uncertainty and unpredictability will be an intrinsic part of the challenges facing our future health service. New technology will undoubtedly change the way we approach health and care – it already is. But as well as the gadgets we use, change will be as much about different ways of working and relating to each other."

The future is now: The innovations of today that point to better health care tomorrow
C Ham, A Brown
The King's Fund
February 2015

Read more here.

Procurement and competition rules: Can the NHS be exempted?

"There is a growing sense within the NHS that the current procurement and competition rules present a major barrier to the new models set out in the NHS five year forward view."

Procurement and competition rules: Can the NHS be exempted?
B Collins
The King's Fund
March 2015

Read more here.

Acute hospitals and integrated care: From hospitals to health systems

"This report explores the role that acute hospitals can play in integrated care, drawing on learning from five case study sites in England where acute hospital providers have engaged actively with the integration agenda."

Acute hospitals and integrated care: From hospitals to health systems
C Naylor, H Alderwick, M Honeyman
The King's Fund
March 2015

Read more here.

Leadership and leadership development in health care: The evidence base

"The summary describes key messages from the review in relation to leadership at different levels of analysis: it includes a description of the leadership task and the most effective leadership behaviours at individual, team, board and national levels."

Leadership and leadership development in health care: The evidence base
M West, K Armit, L Loewenthal, R Eckert, T West, A Lee
The King's Fund
February 2015

Read more here.

Population health systems: Going beyond integrated care

"The central purpose of this paper is to challenge those involved in integrated care and public health to ‘join up the dots’. This challenge recognises that population health is affected by a wide range of influences across society and within communities. Improving population health is not just the responsibility of health and social care services, or of public health professionals. Instead, we argue that it requires co-ordinated efforts across population health systems."

Population health systems: Going beyond integrated care
H Alderwick, C Ham, D Buck
The King's Fund
February 2015

Read more here.

Six building blocks for harnessing the creativity and enthusiasm of NHS staff

"There is now an overwhelming body of evidence to show that engaged staff really do deliver better health care. The NHS providers with high levels of staff engagement (as measured in the annual NHS Staff Survey) tend to have lower levels of patient mortality, make better use of resources and deliver stronger financial performance"

Staff engagement: Six building blocks for harnessing the creativity and enthusiasm of NHS staff
The King's Fund
February 2015

Read more here.

Implementing the NHS five year forward view

"While the direction set by the Forward View has been broadly welcomed, it risks suffering the same fate as previous policy documents unless serious attention is given to the policy changes needed to support local leaders to make new care models a reality"

Implementing the NHS five year forward view: Aligning policies with the plan
C Ham, R Murray
The King's Fund
February 2015

Read more here

Monday 9 March 2015

The Handbook: an end to 'I wish I had known that before I started'

"Through a junior doctor led service improvement initiative we created an intranet-based, updateable, easily accessible, and secure resource to assist junior doctors during this transition period."

The Handbook: an end to 'I wish I had known that before I started'

M Davies, S Panchal, N Misra
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2015;4: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u203210.w1579

Read more here.

Improving compliance with iron infusion therapy in the treatment of chronic anemia in haemodialysis patients with chronic kidney disease

"We aimed to empower hemodialysis nursing staff to manage the iron infusions based on a checklist of ferritin and hemoglobin values thereby making them more independent. This had the added benefit of freeing doctor time."

Improving compliance with iron infusion therapy in the treatment of chronic anemia in haemodialysis patients with chronic kidney disease
ANuti
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2015;4: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u204642.w2177

Read more here.

The cost of hospital-acquired complications for older people with and without dementia

"Increased length of stay and high rates of adverse clinical events in hospitalised patients with dementia is stimulating interest and debate about which costs may be associated and potentially avoided within this population."

The cost of hospital-acquired complications for older people with and without dementia; a retrospective cohort study

K Bail, J Goss, B Draper, H Berry, R Karmel, D Gibson
BMC Health Services Research 2015, 15:91  doi:10.1186/s12913-015-0743-1

Read more here.

Using a theory of planned behaviour framework to explore hand hygiene beliefs

"Improving hand hygiene among health care workers (HCWs) is the single most effective intervention to reduce health care associated infections in hospitals. Understanding the cognitive determinants of hand hygiene decisions for HCWs with the greatest patient contact (nurses) is essential to improve compliance."

Using a theory of planned behaviour framework to explore hand hygiene beliefs at the ‘5 critical moments’ among Australian hospital-based nurses

KM White et al.
BMC Health Services Research 2015, 15:59  doi:10.1186/s12913-015-0718-2

Read more here.

Friday 6 March 2015

Improving venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis in acute urological admissions

"The aim of our quality improvement programme (QIP) was to monitor our practice regarding VTE prophylaxis of the patients' admitted urgently in our department, and then implement a measure to increase compliance if found to be poor."

Improving venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis in acute urological admissions during out of hours through the introduction of a urological admission proforma

E Gerakopoulos
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2015;4: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u206418.w2677

Read more here.

A novel approach to improving coagulation sample ordering in an emergency department

"Through a simple change in longstanding clinical practice, we were able to reduce the number of unnecessary coagulation samples sent from the emergency department."

A novel approach to improving coagulation sample ordering in an emergency department
E Murphy, S MacGlone, C McGroarty
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2015;4: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u204785.w2857

Read more here.

Use of a validated screening tool for psoriatic arthritis in dermatology clinics

"We wanted to implement a robust system of screening for PA [psoriatic arthritis] in both psoriasis and general dermatology clinics in accordance with NICE guidelines which would be sustainable and reduce potential missed cases of the disease."

Use of a validated screening tool for psoriatic arthritis in dermatology clinics

B Ganatra, D Manoharan, V Akhras
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2015;4: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u203335.w2644

Read more here.

Promoting vision and hearing aids use in an intensive care unit

"Vision and hearing impairments have long been recognised as modifiable risk factors for delirium.[1,2,3] Delirium in critically ill patients is a frequent complication (reported as high as 60% to 80% of intensive care patients), and is associated with a three-fold increase in mortality and prolonged hospital stay."

Promoting vision and hearing aids use in an intensive care unit
Q Zhou, N Faure Walker
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2015;4: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u206276.w2702

Read more here.

Improving the management of acute pancreatitis in a district general hospital

"The aim of this quality improvement project was to investigate and improve the initial management of acute pancreatitis in patients presenting to the Great Western Hospital "

Improving the management of acute pancreatitis in a district general hospital
N Crowther, M Kahvo, P Chana
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2015;4: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u206577.w2642

Read more here.

Patient handover in orthopaedics, improving safety using Information Technology

"Following the merger of two orthopaedic departments into a single service in a new hospital, it was felt that a number of safety issues within the handover process needed to be addressed. This quality improvement project addressed these issues through the creation and implementation of a new patient database which spanned the department, allowing trouble free, safe, and comprehensive handover."

Patient handover in orthopaedics, improving safety using Information Technology
T Pearkes
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2015;4: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u207329.w2939

Read more here.

Ceiling of care decisions at an older person's mental health unit

"The issue was that decisions around ceilings of care for patients were often not discussed or at least recorded in the electronic notes and as a result when reviewing deteriorating patients out of hours trainees would find themselves without any guidance on the treating medics opinion on what was in the best interests of the patient."

Ceiling of care decisions at an older person's mental health unit in Gloucestershire
P Slack, A Rose
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2015;4: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u207618.w3050

Read more here.

Dilemmas of a rota: Google's solution

"Doctors take many forms of leave to further career training. Many hospital rotas omit these and are not updated frequently to reflect swaps in on-call duties. As a result, confusion arises with reduced staffing levels leading to sub-optimal patient care."

Dilemmas of a rota: Google's solution
JS Qureshi, F Javaid
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2015;4: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u206147.w2618

Read more here.

Introduction of a new electronic medical weekend handover

"The weekend medical handover system among junior doctors at Tunbridge Wells Hospital in Pembury, UK was cumbersome, inadequate and poor, restricting the ability to provide good patient care. 78.6% of doctors felt that the introduction of an electronic weekend handover system would address the issues in order to improve communication between the medical teams and thus improve patient care." 

Introduction of a new electronic medical weekend handover at Tunbridge Wells Hospital
R Vithlani
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2015;4: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u204755.w2342

Read more here.

Thursday 5 March 2015

Improving the quality of discharge summaries for elective surgical procedures

"We conclude that discharge summaries are an effective time point for intervening to provide patients with specific post-operative information and this may be optimised for different elective procedures via the introduction of electronically-distributed standardised templates."

Improving the quality of discharge summaries for elective surgical procedures at North Bristol NHS Trust
E Ladds, F Betteridge, S Yamamoto, T Gupta-Jessop
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2015;4: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u203452.w1552

Read more here

Developing a ward round checklist to improve patient safety

"This project aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a ward round review checklist on one general medical ward in a district general hospital in the UK."

Developing a ward round checklist to improve patient safety
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2015;4: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u204775.w2440
G Hale, D McNab

Read more here

A tool to improve communication in the neonatal unit

"We sought to assess whether the implementation of a baby diary used as a communication tool would improve parent-staff communication and optimise the parental experience of neonatal care."

A tool to improve communication in the neonatal unit
M van de Vijver, M Evans
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2015;4: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u203180.w3084

Read more here.

Medication Reconciliation Improvement Through the Use of Video

"During implementation of this project, it became immediately clear that despite the known safety benefits to proper medication reconciliation, these benefits were under appreciated by our front line providers."

Medication Reconciliation Improvement Through the Use of Video
M Dewan, B Kraus, D Davis, J McCloskey
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2015;4: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u207581.w3035

Read more here.

Improving multidisciplinary communication at ward board rounds using video enhanced reflective practice

"Video enhanced reflective practice (VERP) provides training based upon analysis of film clips of one’s professional practice to develop practical insight into the processes of communication, so that effective changes can be made to ongoing behaviour and practice."

Improving multidisciplinary communication at ward board rounds using video enhanced reflective practice
C Hellier et al.
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2015;4: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u206968.w2801

Read more here.

The endoscopy safety checklist

"We conclude that use of the endoscopy safety checklist is an opportunity for cost-effective quality improvement in endoscopy services. On-going attention needs to be given to encourage routine uptake of the checklist for its true potential on safety and outcomes to be realised."

The endoscopy safety checklist: A longitudinal study of factors affecting compliance in a tertiary referral centre within the United Kingdom
M Matharoo et al.
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2015;4: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u206344.w2567

Read more here.

Improving inpatient care with the introduction of a hip fracture pathway

"A system of payment by results exists for the management of hip fractures in England and Wales. Poor performance against the national standards was noted, reflecting failure to deliver optimal care. Through the introduction of a multi-disciplinary patient pathway and clerking pro forma, the proportion of patients earning the best practice tariff uplift increased from 44.4% to 91.7%. "

Improving inpatient care with the introduction of a hip fracture pathway
M Chamberlain, H Pugh
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2015;4: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u204075.w2786

Read more here.

Out of hours intravenous fluid therapy

"Recent NICE guidance has highlighted the importance of appropriate and safe intravenous fluid use. We aimed to improve the quality of out of hours fluid prescription in a Bristol hospital by ensuring that indications and cautions for fluid therapy were clearly documented at the time of initiation."

Out of hours intravenous fluid therapy: a prompt to guide prescribing
J Fehmi et al.
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2015;4: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u204010.w3139

Read more here.

Implementation of a ward round pro-forma to improve adherence to best practice guidelines

"This study has two main aims. Firstly, to measure the adherence to specific best practice guidelines for the prevention hospital acquired causes of mortality and morbidity (HACMMs) by doctors on a medical assessment unit in regional teaching hospital. Secondly, to measure the effectiveness of the study’s interventional checklist (the ward round pro-forma) on rates of adherence to best practice guidelines."

Implementation of a ward round pro-forma to improve adherence to best practice guidelines
X Boland
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2015;4: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u207456.w2979

Read more here.

Improving smoking cessation policy by assessing user demand for an inpatient smoking cessation service

"The intervention improved rates of documentation of smoking status, cessation advice, and offer of nicotine replacement therapy and referral for inpatients on two psychiatric wards."

Improving smoking cessation policy by assessing user demand for an inpatient smoking cessation service in adult psychiatric wards
K Liu, A Creamer
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2015;4: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u207323.w2933

Read more here.

Improving theatre efficiency and utilisation

"Surgical departments are increasingly put under pressure to improve services, cut waiting lists, increase efficiency and save money. At a district general hospital in the west-midlands we approached the challenge of improving efficiency and optimising the services available in our orthopaedic theatres."

Improving theatre efficiency and utilisation through early identification of trauma patients and enhanced communication between teams
S Roberts, A Saithna, R Bethune
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2015;4: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u206641.w2670

Read more here.

Mobile clinics for chronic stable glaucoma management

"This initiative aims to improve productivity by reducing demand for appointments from low risk patients in hospital eye clinics, allowing the hospital to see more complex cases. The patient experience should improve because the number of appointments required for testing is reduced and the clinic is brought to locations nearer patients’ homes."

Mobile clinics for chronic stable glaucoma management: improving access and alleviating hospital demand
Ipswich and East Suffolk Clinical Commissioning Group and Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust
NICE Quality and Productivity example
January 2015

Read more here.

Developing and implementing an Early Barrett's Oesophageal Cancer detection and treatment programme

"Our project aims at removing this inequity for patients living in the North East of England, to offer them the chance of early cancer diagnosis and surviving it. The treatment is also shown to be cost effective (NICE Costing Document 2012) compared to oesophagectomy, and so its implementation in our region will save money for the NHS."

Developing and implementing an Early Barrett's Oesophageal Cancer detection and treatment programme in the Durham & Tees Valley Region
County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust
NICE Shared Learning example
February 2015

Read more here.