HSJ Value Awards 2018: Enhancing Value Through Increasing Patient Safety and Reducing Litigation

Winner

Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust in collaboration with Yorkshire and Humber AHSN Improvement Academy: Yorkshire Safety Huddles

Clinical incidents can involve patient harm, demoralise staff, and have a financial impact on the organisation involved. Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust, in collaboration with Yorkshire and Humber AHSN Improvement Academy, introduced daily safety huddles on wards.

These multidisciplinary huddles focused on which patients were at risk of falling, and how they could prevent that. Staff reacted positively to the system, saying they felt more empowered and confident to voice concerns, and the scheme has spread to other hospitals and other forms of harm.

From an initial pilot involving two wards, 91 per cent of wards in Leeds are now huddling, and 45 per cent have achieved a statistically significant reduction in harm. The trust as a whole has seen cardiac arrests fall 25 per cent and falls drop by 34 per cent.

Economic analysis indicates a positive early return on investment of 388 per cent on falls. Huddles have now been implemented in other organisations, including 14 acute trusts, four mental health trusts, the Yorkshire ambulance service, care homes, and the Leeds trust’s portering services.

Read a detailed case study about this project at HSJ Solutions