Blog - Handover is dangerous: 10 things we learned about patient safety (16 May 2022)

Summary

Handover in healthcare settings can be a time when the risk of error and harm is increased. This blog summarises the results of global survey that asked the opinions of healthcare workers on the safety of handover. It highlights ten key points raised by the results:

1. Handover causes frequent errors and patient safety incidents
2. Handover errors can cause serious harm to patients
3. Most people think they are better than average at handover
4. The longer you’ve been around, the scarier handover appears 
5. Different types of handovers have a similar safety profile
6. The safety of handover is a problem all over the world 
7. Most practitioners use manual or informal systems to support handover
8. EPR systems are not up to the job of supporting handover
9. Staff need more training, and we need more time
10. Healthcare leaders want better electronic systems

The results of the survey have been published in Preprints.