How To Hospital: barriers to developing a patient \u27Hospital Survival Guide\u27 to support information transfer during ward-rounds on the patient journey from admission to hospital to discharge

Clinicians can enable patients to actively participate in their care but communication with patients is often poor and highly variable. The aim of this study was to explore patients\u27 understanding of their current illness while in hospital and using a codesign process to create prototype tools to facilitate better communication during ward rounds. A mixed-methods, multistep design with step 1: Application of a questionnaire addressing domains of care in the acute medical unit; step 2: Development of communication aids that were codesigned with active help of patients, students and a specialist in user centric design to address patient needs and step 3: Evaluation of tools with patients in four Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles. In the initial survey of 30 patients 12 (40%) patients did not know what their diagnosis was and 5 (17%) did not know the results of recent key tests. 20 (67%) patients felt that staff communication and coordination could be improved. An intervention was prototyped with four variations: (1) An A6 ward-round summary sheet completed by doctors during ward rounds. The system worked well but was highly person dependent. (2) An A4 patient-owned diary (\u27How to Hospital\u27) that contained information about key processes in hospital and space to document conversations from rounds and prompts for questions. 10 patients read the diary and commented favourably but did not complete any pages. (3) \u27Diary-cards\u27: a basic set of information cards was given to patients on admission to hospital. (4) Patient specific \u27diary-cards\u27 were completed by clinicians - 10 forms were piloted during rounds and improved subsequent day information retention of diagnosis to 80%. Our study identified interventions that were feasible but remained person-dependent. The patients\u27 ownership of information in relation to their care might facilitate retention and satisfaction but the optimal format for these interventions for enhancing communication remains unclear

The 'Wee Wheel' - simple card product to aid nurse recognition of fluid balance to avoid sepsis

The card product allows ward staff to simply determine the correct fluid output for a patient of a given wait. This simplifies fluid balance calculations, and aids the recognition of sepsis. The 'Wee Wheels' are currently batch produced and in trials in hospitals across Wales

The Creative Step in Patient Safety

Building on our previous ISQua sessions, we will demonstrate the value of embedding Inclusive Design thinking into traditional processes of clinical research and trials. The design process is informed by formal evidence gathering, generating solutions that can be methodically trialled and iteratively refined. The merits of this process will be demonstrated through case studies undertaken by the presenting team, resulting in award-winning, commercially viable designs with a proven evidence base. These will be compared to interventions that omit the creative step, or gather insufficient clinical and trial data. The session will conclude with discussion to further probe the design process. Learning objectives: What impact can Inclusive Design have on patient safety? What are the merits of design thinking? How does the creative process interact with clinical research? What are typical outputs, and their impact? What are the challenges of interdisciplinary working; how can we overcome them? Programme: 3 mins – Introduction 10 mins – Design thinking and interdisciplinary working 10 mins – Case study: Violence & aggression in A&E 10 mins – Case study: Redesign of the emergency ambulance 7 mins – Conclusions 20 minute Q&A and discussio