Abstract: Patient harms are estimated to cost the NHS more than £2.3billion per year. For example, inpatient falls can lead to hip fractures and other injuries, whilst even falls without harm can lead to loss of confidence and increased length of stay for patients.
Team huddles have been used for many years and across many industries to improve team-working and communication but in Yorkshire, the Improvement Academy has combined the notion of a team huddle with improving patient safety and team working. We have worked with over 150 frontline teams since 2013 to implement our Huddle Up for Safer Healthcare (HUSH) programme.
In this talk we share some of our learning about what makes a Yorkshire Huddle effective and sustainable. We will also share some early findings from the evaluation currently being undertaken by the University of Bradford.
Biography: Ali is a Consultant in Medicine for Older People. She has a passion for patient safety and improvement, in particular implementing innovations in patient safety into frontline clinical practice. She has worked on many successful frontline QI projects including reducing harm from misplaced nasogastric feeding tubes, reducing falls and reducing cardiac arrests. Ali is leading the programme of work to scale up patient safety huddles on hospital wards within three NHS trusts.
Alison has worked in the NHS for over 30 years. She is a trained Nurse and Midwife. Alison has worked to address patient safety issues for the last 7 years. She is the Improvement Academy’s Clinical Network Director and concentrates on working with frontline teams and implementing safety huddles as a means to improve patient safety culture and reduce harm. Alison also supports the Improvement Academy’s 150 Improvement Fellows.