The ReSPECT (Recommended Summary Plan for Emergency Care and Treatment) team was thrilled to have been shortlisted as finalists in last night’s HSJ Awards in the System Leadership Initiative of the Year category. Particularly during Patient Safety Awareness Week, it was an honour to be recognised for the massive collaborative effort made across the system to implement ReSPECT.
ReSPECT was a key part of the region’s response to COVID-19, with our Network members able to meet the demand for more end-of-life conversations and reduce the strain on staff. We look forward to continuing to embed ReSPECT across the West of England, including commencing roll out in Bath, Swindon and Wiltshire region from June.
To celebrate, we are launching our new animation, ‘A Day in the Life of a ReSPECT form’, which was co-designed by people involved in the project across our region. The animation tells the story of how a ReSPECT form can help improve communication and coordinate personalised, individualised care across the health and care system:
Managing deterioration
The West of England AHSN was shortlisted for three awards, with our clinical lead, Anne Pullyblank shortlisted for Clinical Lead of the Year, and our PReCePT programme shortlisted for Workforce Initiative. All three projects celebrate our collaborative approach across our members.
The ReSPECT implementation is part of our wider programme aimed at improving care for people at risk of becoming unwell. Spotting and acting on the signs of deterioration is vital to ensure patient safety. The West of England Managing Deterioration Safety Improvement Programme builds on our earlier collaborative (Safer Care through NEWS2) which started in 2015.
Our deteriorating patient work programme has included:
Standardising to a single early warning score (NEWS2) across the region and at each of the interfaces of care; watch Paul’s NEWS 2 story about how having this in place helped him make a quick and full recovery from sepsis. One of our publications about the implementation was in the top 10 most popular papers in the British Journal of General Practice last year. Read our publication on NEWS2.
Over the last year, following a rapid conversion from our face-to-face RESTORE2 training for care providers into a virtual offering, we have trained over 1,400 people in RESTORE2/mini and trained 160 super trainers who are now training paid and unpaid carers of people with a learning disability. Read more about our training offer for care homes.
These are supported by a series of short videos for care providers which have been watched over 210,000 times on YouTube since launch a year ago.
We have also supported the rapid local implementation of COVID Oximetry @home, and COVID-19 virtual wards, as well as responding to other local needs in partnership with AHSN colleagues in digital and innovation, and by mid-February 2021 over 1600 people with COVID have been enrolled in COVID Oximetry @home and COVID virtual ward services across the West of England. Read a blog from one of our new clinical leads, Rebecca Winterborn, sharing her experience developing one of these services.
Responding to the findings of the Learning Disabilities Mortality Review is a priority for the West of England, and our Learning Disabilities Collaborative was set up in early 2019, and has continued to meet virtually throughout the last year. You can register to attend our next webinar on 29 March 11:30 – 13:00 covering the topic of Mental Capacity, and find out more about our work here. Our Learning Disability Collaborative have developed a short series of videos to support carers in spotting when someone may be unwell and knowing what to do. Watch the Learning Disability Collaborative’s videos for free on YouTube.
Future plans
Over the next year we will be looking to continue to support an increase in the spread and adoption of deterioration management tools in appropriate non-acute hospital settings, and support the spread and adoption of an acute Paediatric Early Warning Score (PEWS).
If you would like to find our more or get involved please contact our workstream lead, Nathalie Delaney.
Posted on March 18, 2021
Managing Deterioration Safety Improvement Programme
Our Managing Deterioration Safety Improvement Programme helps health and social care staff spot the signs of, and manage, deterioration.
Implementing ReSPECT as a healthcare professional
Training for staff who will need to recognise the ReSPECT form, act on recommendations and be initiating or carrying out conversations with patients and their families about treatment escalation, DNACPR, and the ReSPECT process.
