Abstract
Background
Effective communication is a vital attribute in the healthcare profession. Ineffective communication between healthcare professionals and patients can impede patient safety. The three most common complaints received by GMC were related to medical treatment, communication problems and perceived lack of respect for the patient1. In a study undertaken across three NHS trusts in England between May 2013 and September 2014, 22% of the incidents reported were associated with communication2. Inefficient record-keeping related to communication was the issue.
Methods
To evaluate the effectiveness of current communication, data was collected for 40 patients from 1st December 2022 to 31st January 2023. The inclusion criteria consisted of inpatients with a stay of 3 days or more. Recorded data involved the total number of times a NOK was contacted by different healthcare professionals. The main objective was to record the number of patients’ NOK who were updated within 72 hours of ward admission.
Data and Statistics
The results concluded, only 32.5% of the patients’ NOK were updated by doctors within 72 hours of admission, whereas if other healthcare professionals were included; 62.5% of the patients’ NOK were updated. The data further showed that almost 40% of the patients’ NOK did not receive any updates during their ward admission.
Conclusion
To conclude, the data collected has shown doctors only update 32.5% of patients’ NOK within 72 hours of ward admission. The intervention would be a sticker which is filled whenever communication between NOK and a healthcare professional occurs. The aim is to improve documentation; record-keeping and encourage updates within 72 hours. The aim is to re-collect in 2nd cycle and assess, eventually comparing the number of communication-related complaints received through PALS before and after the implementation of stickers.
References
- Abdelrahman, W. and Abdelmageed, A. (2017) Understanding patients complaints, The BMJ. British Medical Journal Publishing Group.
Available at: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.j452 (Accessed: March 25, 2023).
- O’Hara, J.K. et al. (2018) What can patients tell us about the quality and safety of hospital care? findings from a UK multicenter survey study, BMJ Quality & amp; Safety. BMJ Publishing Group Ltd.
Available at: https://qualitysafety.bmj.com/content/27/9/673 (Accessed: March 25, 2023).
Comments
Thank you for the question Geraint! Sorry did not see the comments earlier, yes we did earlier think about involving an element where we have a tick box on the sticker - which is ticked if the patient has the capacity, however, there are often MCA stickers done
So in our earlier drafts of the intervention we did include the element of the capacity of patient, if they have the capacity- does the patient want the NOK to be updated and other relatives that are not stated as NOK to be updated? We also had a section where a password could be written and if a relative wanted an update about the patient - they would need to provide that password. However, since this was quite long- it was not being filled out adequately hence we edited the stickers to include this information. On our geriatrics ward there is a patient telephone/mobile which the NOK do have the number for and they can call that number, we would take the phone to the patient's bedside and sometimes they update the family members themselves too, but many struggles to do this
72 hours as initially we thought 24 hours, however on busier periods such as bank holidays or weekends this can be difficult to meet, so 72 hours was more feasible
Our proposal to reduce the delays in response to NOK would be to raise awareness among the healthcare staff/ ward staff- that NOK should ideally be updated within 72 hours of the patient being admitted onto the ward.
As this new sticker/intervention was applied, my colleagues and I have been going to the ward every day in board rounds and speaking about the stickers, and raising awareness of the importance of updating the NOK of patients within 72 hours of patients being admitted onto the ward.
This in itself has reduced the delay in response to NOK. We also have made visual posters that have been put on the ward which explain the sticker and the importance of updating NOK within 72 hours, again raising awareness