New Commissioning for Value packs

"The information in the packs will be of particular interest to CCG clinical and management leads with responsibility for finance, performance, improvement and health outcomes; to NHS England regional team leads; and to commissioning support teams who are helping CCGs with this work."

Commissioning for Value – comprehensive data packs to support CCGs and NHS England in the regions
NHS England
January 2016

Access the packs here.

Improving the quality of operative notes by implementing a new electronic template for upper limb surgery

"After implementation of the templates we found no delays in full operative notes being typed and a 100% adherence with the RCS guidelines. This project significantly improved the quality and timely production of electronic surgical notes within a sustainable electronic software solution."

Improving the quality of operative notes by implementing a new electronic template for upper limb surgery at the Royal Derby Hospital

K Theivendran, S Hassan, DI Clark
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2016;5: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u208727.w3498

Read more here.

Analgesia in hip fractures. Do fascia-iliac blocks make any difference?

"Our experience shows a great improvement in compliance with fascia-iliac blocks in the pre-operative period. This work has also underpinned the introduction of a new hip fracture care pathway ultimately to better patient care and outcomes."

Analgesia in hip fractures. Do fascia-iliac blocks make any difference?
J Callear, K Shah
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2016;5: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u210130.w4147

Read more here.

Improving antibiotic prescribing practice in a respiratory ward

"This project aims to improve compliance with documentation of indication and duration of antibiotic use in line with our local antibiotic prescribing guidelines. Post-intervention results were encouraging with compliance rates increasing from 24% to 94% for indication, and from 39% to 71% for duration."

Antimicrobial stewardship: Improving antibiotic prescribing practice in a respiratory ward
JM Yeo
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2016;5: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u206491.w3570

Read more here.

Improving information availability in vascular surgical clinics

"Data driven interventions and repeated PDCA cycles can improve hospital systems for minimal cost. With an annual clinic turnaround of 2500 patients, these interventions can reduce clinic delays and potential harm caused by unavailable records for up to 500 patients a year."

Improving information availability in vascular surgical clinics. A service evaluation and improvement project
K Hurst, S Kreckler, A Handa,
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2016;5: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u210012.w4177

Read more here.

A quality improvement project to tackle under-reporting of hazards by doctors by using an anonymous telephone hotline

"The trial of the reporting answerphone demonstrated that if reporting was made easier, quicker and anonymous then reporting rates increased exponentially."

A quality improvement project to tackle under-reporting of hazards by doctors by using an anonymous telephone hotline
S Johnson
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2016;5: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u208718.w3660

Read more here.

Anticipatory management communication in end-of-shift medicine and nursing handoffs

"The different frequencies for types of AMC likely reflect differences in how residents and nurses work and disparate professional cultures. But, verbal communication in both groups included important information unlikely to be captured in written handoff tools or the electronic medical record, underscoring the importance of direct communication to ensure safe handoffs."

“Mr Smith's been our problem child today…”: anticipatory management communication (AMC) in VA end-of-shift medicine and nursing handoffs
AA Bergman, ME Flanagan, PR Ebright, CM O'Brien, RM Franke
BMJ Quality and Safety 2016;25:84-91 doi:10.1136/bmjqs-2014-003694

Read more here.