Explore Previous PSC Projects
Explore some of our previous PSC projects.
Enhancing Experience in the Maternity Unit
National Early Warning Score (NEWS)
Is my resident unwell? Communication Tool
The ‘Is my resident unwell?’ communication tool has been developed by the AHSN NENC Well Connected Care Homes programme. The communication tool was developed to assist staff in recognising signs and in recording a set of observations; it is now in use in care homes in the North East and North Cumbria. A downloadable version of the ‘Is your resident unwell?’ communication tool is available below as well as a poster to be displayed in participating care homes.
Resources
The NHS Patient Safety Strategy
National Tools and Resources for care homes and other non hospital settings
Local Training and Resources for care homes and other non hospital settings
Frailty iCare – A regional toolkit to prevent frailty and support older people, carers, families and communities living with frailty.
Paediatric Early Warning Score (PEWS)
Identifying and Responding to non-COVID-19 deterioration in Children – acute Paediatric Early Warning Score (PEWS)
Currently, there is no single, national validated system for identifying deterioration in children in England.
This work will support the introduction and adoption of a national Paediatric Early Warning Score (PEWS) in acute settings and a system-wide paediatric observations tracker for children across all appropriate care settings.
Deterioration in adults in care homes
This project aims to identify and respond to deterioration in adults in care homes. It aligns with the Enhanced Health in Care Homes Framework and those being cared for in other non Hospital Settings.
There are significant numbers of people being cared for in care homes and other non hospital settings. Spotting and acting on the early signs of deterioration in a care home resident or person being cared for at home is vital to ensuring patient safety. Our work focuses on supporting and promoting the use of standardised deterioration tools to monitor and escalate concerns relating to care home residents and others being cared for in the community. There are a number of tools and resources available to help identify and respond to physical deterioration with many being structured around the PIER Framework (Prevention; Identification; Escalation; Response).
Prevention
Enhancing and maintaining health and wellbeing to ensure best health. Care workers, carers and health care practitioners are often able to intuitively recognise very early signs that a person is becoming unwell e.g they may go off their food or cease to do their normal activities. If these early signs (often called ‘soft signs’) are recognised and acted upon, it may prevent physical deterioration.
Identification
This relates to identifying when someone becomes unwell and responding accordingly. May include monitoring physical observations eg blood pressure, pulse etc to arrive at a NEWS2 score which will determine the most appropriate course of action.
Escalation
Where a person is becoming unwell, there should be a system or process for care staff/carers to communicate their concerns effectively. This needs to be to the right person so that the unwell person can access the right care.
Response
There should be an appropriate and timely response. In some cases, this may be admission to hospital but there may be circumstances where this is not appropriate and/or may be against the person’s wishes e.g. if they are approaching end of life care.
Personalised care and support planning (PCSP) for adults in relation to deterioration
This work involves supporting an increase in the spread and adoption of reliable personalised care and support planning (PCSP), and approaches encompassing end of life care principles.