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March 2023 - GripAble for upper limb rehabilitation, Mindray C2 AEDs, recruitment for Patient Safety Partners, Clostridium difficile infection, Bivona tracheostomy tube, therapy dogs. patient-safety-newsletter-march2023.pdf February 2023 - Patient feedback, Trust's Patient and Public Voice Policy, Patient Safety Partners, safe wheelchair risk assessment, referral to prolonged jaundice clinic. patient-safety-newsletter-february2023.pdf January 2023 - Dementia friendly ward, National Audit for Inpatient Falls (NAIF), investigation training, CQUINS, ePMA, Health Visitor teams. patient-safety-newsletter-janaury2023.pdf December 2022 - Supporting hydration (HCSW Innovation Idea project), deteriorating patient thematic review, investigation training, checking the right saline, Professional Nurse Advocacy, Medical Device Safety Lead. patient-safety-newsletter-december2022.pdf November 2022 - Reducing the use of fall alarms, wound photography, defining levels of assistance when moving patients, Duty of Candour. patient-safety-newsletter-november2022.pdf October 2022 - Reminiscence Interactive Therapeutic Activities RITA systems, pressure ulcers on heels, post falls checklist, importance of carers care plans, Datix and LfPSE. patient-safety-newsletter-october2022 (1).pdf September 2022 - World Patient Safety Day, ordering and fitting mattress toppers, PSIRF, Sussex interpreting services, risk assessment to prevent pressure sores. patient-safety-newsletter-september2022.pdf August 2022 - Thematic review to discuss falls on the unit, Duty of Candour requirement, reporting a pressure ulcer on Datix, UTC and learning disability health facilitation team table top, care home matrons. patient-safety-newsletter-august2022.pdf July 2022 - Collaboration with the IC24 Roving GP service, critical limb ischaemia, Genius 2 and 3 thermometers, implementing the Patient Safety Strategy, introducing Professional Nurse Advocates and Patient Safety Learning's hub. patient-safety-newsletter-july2022.pdf June 2022 - New visual fluid chart tool, bruising in children who are not independently mobile, end PJ paralysis campaign, investigation training and the importance of personalised communication. patient-safety-newsletter-june2022 (1).pdf May 2022 - Why frailty matters’ week, audit of unstageable pressure ulcers reported on Datix and risk assessing pressure ulcer equipment. patient-safety-newsletter-may2022 (1).pdf April 2022 - ICUs engaging in recent table tops to discuss the falls prevention on the ward, paraffin fire risk leaflet, improving the environment for patients with dementia and safeguarding babies. patient-safety-newsletter-april2022.pdf March 2022 - Patients leaflet on what to expect from therapy during ICU admission and the aim of rehabilitation on the unit, falls alarm, falls in toilets and bathrooms, food fortification, project to develop better tools to monitor food and fluid intake, new or changing confusion, and the importance of end of life care. patient-safety-newsletter-march2022 (1).pdf February 2022 - Homeless Health Inclusion Team, ensuring an MDT falls review, following the no response policy, End of Life Care plan and alerts on SystmOne. patient-safety-newsletter-february2022 (2).pdf January 2022 - patient-centred care, NEWS2 on paper, ensuring safe use of Smartcards, fluid balance charts and the importance of education. patient-safety-newsletter-january2022.pdf December 2021 - a PCN Quality feedback session, the impact of student projects, safe use of wheelchairs on the ICU, the delirium alert on SystmOne and the Herbert protocol patient-safety-newsletter-december2021 (1).pdf November 2021 - hover jacks, taking photos of pressure ulcers, enhanced care assessments, an update from the deteriorating patient and resuscitation lead, and ensuring effective communication. patient-safety-newsletter-november2021 (1).pdf

Panel: Professor Mike Grocott, professor of anaesthesia and critical care medicine, University of Southampton, and deputy chair, Centre for Perioperative Care Professor Rupert Pearse, professor of intensive care medicine, Queen Mary University of London and consultant, Barts Health Trust Craig Brown, head of elective transformation, London North West University Healthcare Trust Justine Sharpe, safety and learning lead (London), NHS Resolution Helen Hughes, chief executive, Patient Safety Learning Dr Oliver Blightman, consultant anaesthetist, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Trust Bill Kilvington, trustee, Action Against Medical Accidents Suzanne Ali-Hassan, deputy director, commercial and innovation, UCL Partners, and deputy director, National Innovation Accelerator Claire Read, HSJ contributor, roundtable chair

Safety-II is rapidly capturing the attention of the improvement world. However, there is very little guidance on how to apply it in practice. THIS Institute at the University of Cambridge have funded a study to explore how Safety-II (or Resilient Health Care) is being translated into healthcare policy and practice. Ruth is looking for people to take part in a one-off interview. She wants to speak to people who: work within the NHS to improve patient safety (whatever your role!) have or are applying Safety-II principles to improve safety in either maternity, A&E, ICU or anaesthetics (however successfully you feel you are doing it!) More information is attached. To get involved please contact Ruth R.M.Baxter@leeds.ac.uk and @RuthMBaxter

Arterial lines are routinely fitted for severely ill patients in critical care and are flushed with a solution to maintain patency, and ensure that blood does not clot in the line. Saline is recommended as the flush solution for arterial lines. There is a known patient safety risk in connection with this where glucose solutions being inadvertently and incorrectly used to flush arterial lines. This has led to inaccuracies in blood glucose measurements, which resulted in unnecessary administration of insulin and subsequent cases of hypoglycaemia, some of which have been fatal. Findings The key findings from the investigation include: The physical layout and design of the clinical and storage areas will influence how reliably staff are able to select and collect similar-looking equipment and medication. The labelling of bags of fluids, similar looking medications and manufacturers’ packaging reduce the reliability of selecting the correct flush fluid in the context of a critical care unit with time pressures and high workloads. The procurement and design of arterial transducer line equipment, the pressure infusion bags and transducer, do not assist in the identification of the incorrect flush fluid or prevent contamination from the flush fluid of a blood sample taken from the arterial line. Alternative equipment, for example transparent pressure infusion bags and closed arterial transducer lines, are currently available to the NHS. These may reduce the risk but are not routinely in use. Challenges in the provision of a consistent suitable workforce and high workloads have a detrimental effect on the safety controls currently relied upon to avoid or identify the risk of using the wrong flush fluid. Safety checks and training lack resilience to organisational pressures regularly experienced within critical care units. There can be a delay in identifying the contamination with glucose of an arterial line blood sample due to a normalisation and acceptance that critically ill patients may have altered blood glucose levels and require insulin treatment, and a perceived low risk associated with the use of a flush fluid. The design of systems to record and monitor information relevant to the arterial transducer line system and blood glucose levels do not easily alert staff to the potential use of the wrong flush fluid. Recommendations issued over the last 14 years by national safety bodies and professional healthcare organisations to address the safety of blood sampling associated with arterial lines have not been effectively implemented. Safety recommendations The report makes the following safety recommendations: HSIB recommends that the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency [Head of Metabolic Disorders and Renal Systems] engages with other national regulators and relevant stakeholders to develop design guidance on labelling and packaging specific to fluids to reduce selection errors. HSIB recommends that the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency [Head of Metabolic Disorders and Renal Systems] reviews and acts on the available evidence to regulate for the use of pressure infusion bags that allow fluid labels to be read when inflated. HSIB recommends that the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency [Head of Metabolic Disorders and Renal Systems] communicates to all relevant stakeholders and acts on the available evidence concerning the management of the risks associated with arterial transducer line sets. HSIB recommends that the Department of Health and Social Care [Director of Medical Technology], once post-market surveillance data is available, involves relevant stakeholders including the Association of Anaesthetists’ review and determine appropriate actions that could be taken to further mitigate the risk of blood sample contamination by the flush fluid when using arterial transducer line systems. HSIB recommends that the Association of Anaesthetists [President] works with relevant professional organisations to revise existing national guidance to manage the risks of contamination by the flush fluid when using an arterial line to take a blood sample. HSIB recommends that the Care Quality Commission [Chief Executive] reviews the recommendations from the Association of Anaesthetists on how to manage the risks of contamination by the flush fluid when using an arterial transducer line and determines any appropriate actions for the oversight of governance and assurance arrangements within NHS providers following.

Implications While this study shows that those referring patients to ICU could benefit from greater support, the decision support tool trialled in this study would need some adaptation to fit the time-pressured realities of the users. The process did seem to help clinicians articulate and communicate their reasoning for admission. Perhaps, as the authors say, if the tool were to be integrated into existing systems the perceived additional workload may be diminished. Another not insignificant finding is that although clinicians stated they valued patient’s wishes, in some cases there was a lack of patient and family involvement.

Walking by is not what I want to do but walking by is what I do on a regular basis. I am ashamed to write this, to think this, to do this. I don’t think I am alone as I have seen others do it too. We are not bad people, but I can’t help but think that we have turned into bad nurses. The last thing I wanted to be was a bad nurse. This was never the plan… it’s crept in, without me knowing it was happening. Until now. How has this happened? How have I become the nurse I despise? I work on an acute medical admissions unit. We have patients that are admitted from the emergency department (ED). They are unwell, often too unwell to come to us, but patients need to be moved. “Keep ED flowing” – its all about flow. I have begun to hate that word. We have 36 beds in total. We have a nurse/patient ratio of 1:6. Sometimes 1:8 if we are short staffed. Throughout the day we can have up to 12 patients that have passed through those six beds. They go to other medical wards, respiratory wards… anywhere that has space. If we have no room the ED gets backed up and ‘flow’ stops. I have pressure from my nurse in charge to move my patient to another ward, they have pressure from the bed manager, who has pressure from the ops manager. I have sat in on bed meetings, it’s not easy listening. A high up manager barking “we need 45 discharges by mid-day”; it’s not achievable… it goes on every day. I’m getting these patients ready for transfer. Safety booklets, pages long to be completed: nutritional score, waterlow score, bowel chart, touch the toes chart, fluid chart, turns chart, fall proforma, NEWS charting, food chart, clinical pathways, next of kin contact details, let alone my documentation for those few hours they have sat in that bed. All the while, drugs need to be given, intravenous drugs, not just for my patient but I have to help the agency nurse in the next bay as “she can’t do IVs”. Patients need washing, turning, feeding, monitoring, bloods to be taken, wounds to be dressed, hourly pump checks, blood sugar testing, cannulation and conversations with sick patients’ relatives. These are tasks that need to be done on time. If not – trust policy is breached. Some, I just ‘tick’, especially if it’s a checklist. I know I’m not the only one that does this – it’s normal. So, when I’m in the middle of trying to complete these ever-growing tasks, I hear “nurse can you…” “nurse will you just…” “I know you're busy but...” What do I do? I walk on by. I walk at high speed. I have stopped before. It often stops me completing my tasks. I forget what I was meant to be doing. I have missed a crucial blood sugar check for my DKA patient in the past. Patients do not get their medication on time, patients are not transferred on time (it’s all about the flow), safety booklets not completed, handovers rushed and information missed, documentation scant. I’m always in a rush. I know many of the calls are for toileting. This can take a while. I daren’t look at the pressure areas – my heart sinks if there is one… more documentation, more time away from the other tasks. Patients who come in are often at risk of falling, so need two people to help. I know the next-door nurse is just as busy; I feel bad to ask her/him. The healthcare assistant is often too busy to help, getting patients ready for transfer, doing the observations… relentless. Walk on by. Yes, I do. I am not the only one. What are the Trust priorities? Safe care or flow? The Trust will always say safe care. So why set up the environment that causes unsafe care? Mixed messages. I became a nurse to give evidence-based, holistic, safe care. I go home demoralised. I don’t recognise this profession anymore.

Key messages Medication errors (MEs) are common and persistent problems that may pose significant risk to critically ill children admitted to paediatric and neonatal intensive care units. Prescribing and medication administration errors were the common types of MEs and dosing errors were the most frequent ME subtype in both paediatric and neonatal intensive care unit settings. Anti-infective medications were the commonly reported drug class associated with MEs/preventable adverse drug events across both intensive care unit types. Further research is needed to examine medication administration errors and preventable adverse drug events in children’s intensive care settings.

This poster was created by the Royal Free Nursing team on the intensive care unit. It demonstrated how they reduced turnover of staff on the unit by implementing 'Joy in Work'.