Winner

Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation Trust: Body worn video on mental health wards

Against the backdrop of national concerns about abuse in care settings, and evidence that police use of body worn video cameras had led to a reduction in complaints and use of force, staff at Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation Trust decided to pilot the technology.

Members of the prevention and management of violence and aggression team, along with nursing staff on five psychiatric inpatient wards, donned body worn cameras as a trial. Focus groups with service users and staff were carried out before, during and after the pilot to ensure everyone was engaged in the process and that no myths spread about the devices’ use.

All wards on which the devices were being used had posters explaining the cameras would only record when they had been activated by a staff member, and that they would only be activated if it was believed there was a risk to safety.

Compared to the same period in the previous year, the number of incidents in which there was a need for emergency restraint – due to a high or immediate risk of harm – fell from 41 to 18.

To read this entry in full visit HSJ Solutions.

Click here for more details on the HSJ Patient Safety Awards 2018.

Finalists

  • Health Innovation Network: Spotting the signs of sepsis Highly commended
  • Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board: From “Mon-PLOP-oly” to “Game of Stools” – the development of an educational board game
  • Bradford District Care Foundation Trust: Criteria led discharge tracker for ward based mental health patients
  • Cornwall Partnership Foundation Trust: New pressure mat reduces likelihood of patient developing pressure injuries by identifying hot spots
  • Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation Trust: Rapid Access Diagnostic Clinic (RADC)
  • Nottingham University Hospitals Trust: Making moisture manageable – introducing a moisture lesion prescription sticker across adult critical care
  • Sherwood Forest Hospitals Foundation Trust: Interoperability link between healthcare and social services
  • Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals Trust: Stroke services Kaizen work – swallow test assessments
  • The William Quarrier Scottish Epilepsy Centre: Seizure risk assessment scale
  • West Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group: Screening procedures of low clinical value requests