A Quality Improvement Project to Assess and Refine the Handover Process at Morning Trauma Meetings

NCT ID: NCT04514601

Last Updated: 2020-08-17

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Total Enrollment: 317 participants
• Study Classification: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2019-10-23
• Study Completion Date: 2019-12-13

Brief Summary

This project was intended to observe the handover of trauma and orthopaedic patients at a district general hospital in the UK. Following the implementation of a standard operating protocol, the handover of patient information improved including neck of femur fracture patients significantly. The study can therefore be utilised by other similarly structured departments to improve the handover process, thereby improving patient safety.

Detailed Description

Poor handover and inadequate transmission of clinical information between shifts can result in patient harm. This study was designed to evaluate the impact of implementing a handover protocol on the quality of information exchanged in the trauma handover meetings in a UK hospital.

A prospective single centre observational study was performed at an acute NHS trust, using the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) methodology. Ten consecutive weekday trauma meetings, involving 43 patients, were observed to identify poor practices in handover. This data was used in conjunction with the Royal College of Surgeon's recommendations for effective handover (2007) to create a standard operating protocol (SOP). Following the implementation of the SOP, a further 8 consecutive weekday trauma meetings, involving a further 47 patients, were observed. The data collection was performed by 5 trained independent observers. The data was analysed using t test for quantitative variables and chi-square or Fisher's exact tests for categorical variables.

Conditions

Neck of Femur Fracture; Fractures, Bone; Orthopedic Disorder

Study Design

• Observational Model Type: COHORT
• Study Time Perspective: RETROSPECTIVE

Study Groups

Pre-Intervention Group

The verbal and written handover of these patients was observed. This included 146 general orthopaedic admissions patients and 43 trauma patients. All patient data was anonymised.

No interventions assigned to this group

Post-Intervention Group

The verbal and written handover of these patients was observed after the introduction of the intervention. This included 81 general orthopaedic admissions patients and 47 trauma patients. All patient data was anonymised.

Standard Operating Protocol

Intervention Type: OTHER

This was a written protocol on how the handover process should be conducted.

Interventions

Standard Operating Protocol

This was a written protocol on how the handover process should be conducted.

Intervention Type: OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• All patients that were handed over were included in the study.

Exclusion Criteria

• Nil.

• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

Sandwell & West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Salman Sadiq

Foundation Year 2 Doctor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Collette Samuels

Role: STUDY_DIRECTOR

Audit Co-Ordinator Sandwell Hospital

Locations

Sandwell Hospital

West Bromwich, , United Kingdom

Countries

United Kingdom

Other Identifiers

QIP Trauma Meetings Sandwell

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id