NHS Clatterbridge improves Clinical Incident reporting using Q-Pulse

Online, June 11, 2010 (Newswire.com) - The Trust's Clinical Governance Department previously operated a paper based system for the capture of Clinical Incidents, in addition to the online National Reporting and Learning Service (NRLS) Clinical Incident reporting form. Due to the time and resource necessary to report all Radiotherapy and non-Radiotherapy related Clinical Incidents through the online NRLS form, the Trust was unable to meet the NPSA requirement, and the recommendations outlined in the 'Towards Safer Radiotherapy' report.

Q-Pulse enabled the Trust to capture all Clinical Incidents electronically at a central point, and for the incidents to be automatically uploaded to the NRLS system at predetermined intervals. By replicating the NRLS Clinical Incident Reporting form within Q-Pulse, the Trust is not only able to improve the integrity and timeliness of their Clinical Incident reporting, but also improve efficiency through a reduction in the duplication of effort.

Vicki Davies, Clinical Governance Manager said:-

"The Trust itself was under increasing pressure as it had been classed as an 'under-reporter' by the NPSA.
After reviewing the Q-Pulse Incident and Occurrence module and its suitability to meet the Clinical Reporting requirements assessed and confirmed, the Trust agreed Q-Pulse was the best solution to effectively capture Incidents and manage Clinical Incident Reporting in accordance with Care Quality Commission (CQC) and NPSA requirements.

As Gael were able to replicate the Trust's Clinical Incident Reporting form within Q-Pulse, this enabled us to get to grips with the new way of reporting very easily.

With Q-Pulse we now have a central point for recording Incidents of all severities, with minimal effort and no duplication of effort. As a result, the Trust is able to meet the NPSA requirements without adding any burden to the existing Governance Team resource."

Karen Postlethwaite, Clinical Governance Manager within the Radiotherapy Department adds:-

"After the publication of the NPSA's reporting requirements in the 'Towards Safer Radiotherapy' report, we quickly realised this would result in a tremendous increase in the number of incidents that would require to be reported by our Department - from approximately 5, over a 6 month period, to approximately 70 per month. Q-Pulse has enabled us to effectively manage all our reporting around this increase, whilst helping to improve the productivity of our Department."