Open AccessImproving Medical Handover: An SHO-Led Approach to Implementing A Formalized Handover System
Author(s) -
Rachel Hallam,
K.R. Shenthil kumar,
Susan Akintunde,
Opeyemi Akinnawonu,
Saba Mahmood,
Rabiu Momoh
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
european journal of medical and health sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2593-8339
DOI - 10.24018/ejmed.2021.3.6.1114
Subject(s) - handover , patient safety , quality (philosophy) , medical emergency , medicine , computer science , operations management , business , health care , computer network , engineering , political science , philosophy , epistemology , law
Handover is a high-risk exercise. As the number of doctors in hospitals vary between shifts, continuity of care must be secured from many professionals down to a few. Literature has repeatedly shown that handover time is when the greatest number of medical errors occur [1]. Tasks may be inefficiently handover over, mis-represented or forgotten entirely. We have shared perspectives from a quality improvement (QI) project undertaken at the William Harvey Hospital, Kent, United Kingdom towards ensuring safe and smooth handover of medical tasks between shifts at the acute medical department in this hospital.