Ward nurses and assistants in the county’s community hospitals are now able to spend more time directly caring for patients.
It’s all part of an initiative led by NHS Herefordshire, which is being rolled out to wards at Leominster, Bromyard and Ross Community Hospitals, Hillside Intermediate Care Centre and Cantilupe Ward at the Stonebow Unit.
The Releasing More Time to Care Programme was devised by the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement.
The first stage of the programme has seen staff observing and recording the work of ward nurses and assistants minute-by-minute over an entire shift of either eight or twelve hours. This information is then analysed to identify where time can be saved through rearranging or changing systems, processes and the working environment.
At Bromyard Community Hospital, more than an hour and 22 minutes has been saved each day by reorganising filing systems, workstations and store cupboards to make essential, daily processes more efficient. The team believes that it can save more time by making other changes to their environment, which can then be spent with patients.
Patient feedback at all five sites has been positive about the improvements that have been made. Forty six staff and visitors recently held an event to share their experiences of the programme so far at which matrons, ward staff, programme support team and managers showcased the good work being undertaken around the county to colleagues and NHS West Midlands.
The programme is funded by NHS West Midlands and Herefordshire’s good practice is being shared with other primary care trusts in the region.
Future work will focus on patient involvement, medicines, meals, admission and discharge processes, handover and multi-disciplinary team working. The new ways of working will become part of everyday business.
Richard Carroll, interim managing director of provider services, says: “This is an innovative and exciting programme that the staff have put a lot of effort into resulting in real benefits for our patient care. I am delighted that even at a relatively early stage the benefits are already being demonstrated. Such is the success of this programme we are actively looking to see if we can roll it out to our community services. The staff are to be congratulated on the results they have already achieved and I am sure more benefits will follow as the programme continues.”
Anne Harris, programme manager, added: “The success of the programme so far is down to the enthusiasm and hard work of the staff. They want to be able to spend more time on patient care and one way to do this is by making our essential processes and systems even more efficient. We are already saving hours and minutes and that is just the beginning.”