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Improved Ward Quality Management at the George Eliot Hospital
March 08, 2010
Clinical Dashboards were launched by the NHS in April 2008, and allowed clinicians to access relevant patient data in an accessible format. Recommended by Lord Darzi, clinical dashboards allow access to quality information that drives performance and encourages best practise in management of patient care.
"An invaluable tool"
The Saving Lives Audit is a clinical dashboard developed by Tortrix to improve the quality of patient care on wards. The software solution allows nursing staff to record completed observations according to a list of NHS guidelines. These include infection control, catheter care, ventilator care, checking of surgical wounds, the ward environment, patient safety and includes a section for feedback or comments. The application incorporates these guidelines and consolidates the recorded data into graphs and images presenting the information in an easy-to-read format.
The Saving Lives Audit tool has been in use at George Eliot Hospital since the beginning of February and has received some positive feedback from members of staff that have used it:
'For me the dashboard will be an invaluable tool as the ward staff will input their own data and have the autonomy of producing their own reports and graphs. I feel that any trust would find the dashboard as useful as I have.' Libby Holland, Clinical Audit and Effectiveness Nurse, George Eliot Hospital.
This reporting and review tool is designed to improve the reliability of clinical procedures. It allows healthcare professionals to improve decision making in managing patient care. The aggregated data displays progress across wards and departments allowing staff to compare performance. The staff are able to input their own observations, increasing a sense of ownership and improving data quality, helping to motivate progress.
"Any NHS trust would find the dashboard useful"
The Saving Lives Audit saves time and effort spent previously on filling in paper response forms, and allows various sources of data to be consolidated in a central interface. The application is customised to meet the needs of the staff and patients, and provides a means of ensuring better and safer patient care.
