Rapid response teams and recommended ward-based management of acute deterioration: a single-centre retrospective cohort study in an inner-city London (UK) teaching hospital.

OBJECTIVES : To describe the associations between Rapid Response Team (RRT) patient review and other predefined clinical management actions, with risk of in-hospital cardiac arrest and in-hospital mortality in the first unplanned admission (UPA) to the adult intensive care unit (ICU) from the ward environment for each patient.To describe a novel RRT assessment tool for ward-based care for patients who were deteriorating. A retrospective cohort study. A large multispecialty, tertiary referral and teaching hospital in England, UK. The study included 3175 consecutive adult ICU UPAs from hospital wards over a 6-year period (2014-2019). Ward-based management of deterioration prior to ICU admission was assessed by the RRT, using a scored checklist-the UPA score. Admissions were compared in two groups according to their exposure to an RRT review in the 72 hours before ICU admission. Associations with in-hospital cardiac arrest within 24 hours before ICU admission and all-cause in-hospital mortality were estimated, using unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios (aORs) with 95%CI. RRT review occurred in 1413 (44.5%) admissions and was associated with reduced odds of in-hospital cardiac arrest (aOR 0.51; 95% CI 0.36 to 0.78; p<0.001), but similar odds of in-hospital mortality (OR 0.97; 95% CI 0.83 to 1.12; p=0.65). The median (IQR) UPA score was 1 (0 to 2), and each point increase was associated with increased odds of in-hospital cardiac arrest (aOR 1.13; 95% CI 1.06 to 1.23; p<0.001) and in-hospital mortality (aOR 1.10; 95% CI 1.05 to 1.15; p<0.001). Among individual UPA score items, Nursing Escalation Failure, Blood Gas Omission and Laboratory Blood Omission were associated with increased odds of in-hospital cardiac arrest, whereas Delayed Vital Signs and Failure to Recognise Deterioration were associated with increased odds of in-hospital mortality. An RRT review in the 72 hours prior to ICU admission was associated with reduced odds of in-hospital cardiac arrest but did not impact in-hospital mortality. Higher UPA scores were associated with increased incidence of both in-hospital cardiac arrest and in-hospital mortality. In addition, this study describes a novel and adaptable RRT scoring tool (the UPA score) for safety monitoring and quality improvement.