Hospital at Night RSS Hospital at Night 2008 UK Implementation Survey Report press release
Report Highlights Positive Progress In The Implementation Of The Hospital At Night Model Of CareSurvey of the Hospital at Night approach highlights a major uptake across the UK. Almost 80% of NHS trusts across England, Wales and Scotland have adopted the Hospital at Night (HaN) method of team working according to a new survey. The Hospital at Night 2008 UK Implementation Survey is the second major assessment of progress since HaN was introduced in 2004. In 2006, the original survey report for England only found that 48% of NHS trusts had started to or implemented HaN. The report shows that Hospital at Night is becoming well established and is becoming mainstream across the NHS in the UK. Since its origins in 2003/4, when it was piloted with four NHS trusts, it is now being implemented across each of the four countries in the UK. Furthermore interest for Hospital at Night goes beyond the UK, with active implementation in Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand and increasing interest across EU member states. Gerry Bolger, director of the Hospital at Night project said: "Hospital at Night is in reality not an optional extra but a model of good care in today’s quality and patient focused NHS. The model is recognised both across the UK and internationally as an effective way of managing care out of hours." The Survey assessed the impact of the model across the NHS and looked at how trusts were adopting or using the multiprofessional approach. The survey asked a total of 58 questions relating to nine enablers of HaN which include aspects such as clinical leadership, handover, clinical audit, training plus clinical and risk governance. As well as providing new opportunities and enhanced roles for nursing staff, some hospital trusts using the model are reporting a reduction in clinical incidents. Wendy Reid, clinical lead for the Hospital at Night project, said: "Hospital at Night supports trusts in several ways, including delivering safer care and providing safer training. The model supports many of the items on today’s trust agendas, such as safety and efficiency, whilst both protecting training time and supporting the junior doctors in training within a team approach." The report shows a positive change in the number of acute hospitals who are implementing the concept. The report also shows that mental health providers are embracing the HaN approach and utilising it to support better patient care out of hours using a multiprofessional team model. Those NHS organisations using the HaN model are taking it further. Many early implementers have moved to using the model 24:7. By applying the principles of multiprofessional teamwork approaches they are developing the model to support pathways of care as part of ongoing service delivery. The report recommends that NHS organisations use a multiprofessional cross cover team approach and implement in more than just one speciality. This will ensure that the original concept supports patient care. The full report is available here >>> For further information contact: Skills for Health - Workforce Projects Team |
