CLIC (RPIW) on A&E
The latest Rapid Process Improvement Workshop (RPIW) on A&E saw the team saving up to 6000 hours of time a year to dedicate to patient care.
The workshop provided an opportunity for staff working in the department to take time out to discuss the main obstacles they face within their day-to-day roles and how these could be reduced as well as to improve efficiencies and provide staff with more time for face-to-face patient care.
The team, including medical, nursing, allied health professional staff and patient and volunteer representatives, quickly identified and implemented a number of improvements including:
- Ensuring patients in the department are triaged within 15 minutes, aided by the introduction of a dedicated healthcare assistant for triage – this has already gone up from 65% to 85% this week alone
- Through relocating commonly used documentation, the team will save on steps taken which leads to a saving of up to 400 hours per year of staff time which can then be used for providing patient care
- Working with the team in Ambulatory Care, clear patient pathways are now displayed in the triage room meaning more patients can potentially be directed straight to Ambulatory Care for assessment and treatment
- The Pharmacy team has been reviewing medicines management and is looking to create a dedicated area for drug preparation
The team has decided to take an ‘always cubicle’ approach by keeping computers and documentation close to patients so they can involve the patient at every stage and keep them better informed.
