NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde: getting it right one ward at a time

Twice Daily Board Rounds

Dr Evelyn Millar is a Consultant Respiratory Physician on ward 7B, which was the first Exemplar Ward. She said:

"From the beginning we were under pressure to work more efficiently and particularly to improve patient flow. It was challenging and we began working with Peter and Alisdair to identify how we could rapidly improve our efficiency. One of the first improvements was to re-empower the Senior Charge Nurses ( SCNs) - and put the management of the wards firmly back in their hands."

One of the ways the hospital did this was to give SCNs responsibility for hosting the twice-daily multidisciplinary team board round. This is a short, sharp, focused meeting, usually around the nurses' station, to plan the running of the ward and, in particular, to discuss patient priorities and discharge plans for the next three or four days. The board rounds bring together the multidisciplinary team to identify, discuss and assign tasks for the day ahead and bring all staff up to speed on safety 'hotspots'. They take place seven days a week, morning and afternoon.

"We cascaded this approach down to other wards and they could see that not only had it improved the way the Exemplar Wards were run but, crucially, these improvements were being maintained even through challenging times."

Peter McInnes,
Service Improvement Manager