Emergency Department Checklist to be rolled out in England

An Emergency Department Safety Checklist used at hospitals in Bristol is set to be rolled out to trusts across England.

The initiative was developed in Bristol to improve patient safety in emergency departments. NHS Improvement’s recent recommendation to all trusts in England is to implement the Emergency Department (ED) Safety Checklist.

The checklist, originally developed and tested by University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, is designed to address the challenge of ensuring patient safety during periods of crowding. It is supported by the West of England
Patient Safety Collaborative and the Health Foundation.

The ED Safety Checklist helps to standardise and improve the delivery of basic care in emergency departments. It serves as an aide-memoire for staff, and any doctor, nurse, bank or agency staff can join the department and provide the right care by following the framework of tasks.

Following the success of the initiative at University Hospitals Bristol Bristol, the West of England Patient Safety Collaborative supported all seven emergency departments in the region to adopt the checklist: Bristol Royal Infirmary, Southmead Hospital, Royal United Hospital Bath, Great Western Hospital, Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Trust, Weston General and South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust.

The Health Service Journal previously named the ED Safety Checklist ‘best patient safety initiative in A&E’ and use of the checklist is now supported and endorsed by NHS Improvement, NHS England, the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, the Royal College of Nursing and the Care Quality Commission.

Deborah Evans, managing director of the West of England Academic Health Science Networks, said: “It is fantastic news that our local ED Safety Checklist is now being recognised and picked up at a national level, particularly as it was created by clinicians for clinicians.

“I believe this is the role of the 15 Patient Safety Collaboratives, which are coordinated by the Academic Health Science Networks across the country. We seek out evidence of best practice in healthcare settings and help to test this more widely, so that improvements and innovations can be most effectively rolled out nationally and mainstreamed where appropriate.”