Cantebury DHB is “pulling” ED patients to the ward with electronic handovers

10% of Canterbury’s incidents and internal complaints stemmed from handover issues. The medical unit and ED collaborated to develop an electronic handover tool. So far the change has resulted in reduced patient care interruptions, reduced noise disruption and improved accuracy of patient health history.

ED nurses are now pre-populating an electronic handover tool for patients transferring from ED to the ward. Nurses on the ward receive early notification of impending transfers and have all the clinical information available. The new system ensures that the right information is available to the right staff and is not dependent on changing staff. For example, a nurse in ED can pre-populate the tool before he/she finishes a shift.

Canterbury DHB  and other participating hospital’s innovation presentations are available to HRT members by clicking here.

To find out more about these and other innovations from this meeting, please email bernie.mullin@healthroundtable.org