February 07, 2021
Over 10% of all Riskmans that are attributed to Western Health’s Emergency Departments are related to clinical handover. We looked back at the data from July 2020, and while we have improved on the previous year, we are still recording a high number of incidents related to clinical handover.
We often discuss risk and opportunities for improvement. While we like that our performance in this area has improved, we would like to see the total number of incidents related to clinical handover reduce further. Some common themes exist in the data:
We recognise that Clinical Handover is complex. It is a system that relies on both the individuals giving and receiving handover to translate and record with accuracy. In a busy and hectic work environment this can be very challenging. We ask staff to take a few minutes this week to review the TOTW material, reflecting on their practice, aligning it to the standards.
