6721 Establishing and imbedding a safety huddle in the paediatric ward of a tertiary orthopaedic hospital

Objectives Safety huddles are an established method of improving patient safety by improving multidisciplinary communication and situational awareness. The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (RNOH) is a tertiary orthopaedic hospital admitting complex aediatric orthopaedic patients. Safety huddles were instituted on the ward in 2019 in a trust driven initiative. An audit cycle and staff surveys were conducted with the objective of improving the efficacy of the aediatric safety huddle and taking into account participants views. Methods Two audits were conducted on the Paediatric ward in RNOH looking at 1 year of safety huddles in 2022 (23 forms) and in May 2023(20 forms). The data for this audit was collected using completed safety huddle forms kept in a specific folder in the nursing station. Standards were measured against RCPCH S.A.F.E (situational awareness for everyone). Results Safety huddles only happened 6% of the time (23/365 days) in 2022 and poor adherence was highlighted in audit days and ward meetings. in May 2023 huddles happened every weekday (Monday-Friday)- 65% of the time (20/31 days). The time keeping also improved from 45% happening at scheduled time to 100%. Recording of participants improved from 26% to 42%. Duration of huddle was less than 20 minutes 100% of the time in 2022 but in 2023 a new standard of 10-minute time limitation was introduced and this was achieved 30% of the time (the rest of the time not recorded). Confidentiality was also highlighted and the huddle moved to a more private area. Of the issues identified pharmacy was the commonest, followed by staffing issues, departmental hazards and patient concerns. Participant staff surveys showed that 100% of staff thought huddles improved safety. Suggestion from the first survey included a specific time for huddles which was instituted. On the second survey 90% were in favour of introducing huddles on the weekend. Conclusion The audit cycle has shown an improvement in frequency and timeliness of the safety huddle and it has now been embedded as part of the paediatric ward safety culture. 100% of staff agree it improves patient safety. Areas for improvement include noting down duration and participants and the form has been modified. The huddle will now be done on the weekends to reflect our 24/7 service and re-audit undertaken next year to ensure on-going improvements.