Recognition of Patient Deterioration (Adults) Policy (P83)
The aim of this policy is to set the minimum standard and frequency for monitoring and recording adult patients’ vital signs in their own home, Minor Injuries Units, outpatient podiatric surgery and community hospital wards.
The mismanagement of deterioration is a common area of systemic failure in avoidable patient death across the NHS (NHS Improvement, 2016, Hogan et al, 2012) and poor communication is a leading cause of adverse events in healthcare. The National Early Warning Score (NEWS) offers a common language to describe and communicate a patient’s acute illness severity by all healthcare professionals in all settings and is central to establishing a national pathway for improving the management of deterioration and sepsis (Inada-Kim and Nsutebu, 2018).
This policy aims to increase survival among acutely unwell and deteriorating patients
Policy Categories
- Clinical