Improving Patient Safety
During the pandemic, Patient Safety Collaboratives are supporting their local health and care systems, including hospitals, care homes and the community, to improve patient and resident safety.
Overview
Expanding the work of the SW Patient Safety Collaborative
Using Oximetry@ Home or virtual wards to monitor COVID-19 patients outside of hospitals
Supporting the Devon vaccination rollout programme
Detailed Programme Information
The South West Patient Safety Collaborative, hosted by the South West AHSN is one of 15 Patient Safety Collaboratives (PSCs) across England delivering the National Patient Safety Improvement Programmes.
The South West PSC has been focusing on the following priorities:
- Identifying and managing people at risk of deterioration and sepsis
- Implementing a tracheostomy care programme to help manage patients with a tracheostomy
- Support for maternity and neonatal units
Pulse Oximetry and COVID virtual wards
Oximetry@ Home is a programme to support COVID-19 patients to monitor their own blood-oxygen saturation to help detect earlier deterioration of people with COVID-19, both in the community and in care homes. This involves regular monitoring via the local health care team, and allows the patient to remain at home, with their treatment being escalated quickly if early signs of deterioration are seen.
Optimising Devon vaccinations rollout
At the end of 2020, we were asked to support Devon ICS (Integrated Care System) to optimise COVID-19 vaccinations roll-out, including improvement tools and learning approaches to enable the system to vaccinate as many citizens as possible.
A 4-week rapid learning cycle was undertaken, looking at processes, maximising resources, and increasing throughput at each of the 6 vaccination sites. Other comparable research was undertaken at sites elsewhere in the country, gathering best practice examples. Vaccine supply, patient flow and workforce were the three key areas identified.
These learnings were shared with a range of stakeholders in the region and beyond.
Impact includes
- 100% of COVID Oximetry @home services fully available and all acute trusts had access to virtual wards
- As of the end of March 2021, over 888 people benefited from COVID Oximetry @home and COVID Virtual Wards programmes across Devon, Somerset and Cornwall
- Our work has contributed to a 50% increase in patient throughput as part of wider support given to enable system improvements at vaccination sites
For more information, please contact our Patient Safety Team.
