New training video to promote improved healthcare for residents in care homes

A new video could help improve patient safety and the quality of care for people living in care homes across south east Hampshire.

It was co-produced by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board (HIOW ICB), Partnering Health Ltd (PHL) Group and the Wessex Academic Health Science Network (AHSN), which also funded the project.

Written by NHS and PHL staff, the video aims to improve the communication between the NHS and care homes to improve patient care.

It is the latest in a series of resources jointly produced by the Wessex Patient Safety Collaborative (part of Wessex AHSN) and HIOW ICB, aimed at delivering systematic and sustainable improvements to patient safety through better system co-ordination and as part of safe and reliable pathways across health and social care.

The near ten-minute video shows the benefits of a system called SBARD (Situation Background Assessment Recommendation Decision) - a communication tool already well used across the NHS, especially in the acute (hospitals) sector, which enables information to be transferred accurately between staff.

The video demonstrates two situations involving an out-of-hours call handler and care home staff – one in which SBARD is used and one in which it isn’t. When SBARD is used, it improves the effectiveness of communication between the NHS contact and care home staff, saving time and improving the quality of patient care received.

Originally developed in the United States for military purposes, SBAR (Situation Background Assessment Recommendation) has subsequently been adopted by the NHS as a patient safety strategy, with the addition of the Decision stage of the process.

SBARD consists of standardised prompt questions which allow staff to communicate confidently and effectively, reducing the need for repetition and the likelihood of errors.

It also encourages assessment skills and helps staff to anticipate the information required by colleagues and provide the right level of detail needed for decision-making.

There are currently 174 care homes in the south east locality and the link to the video will be shared with them all as part of a plan to roll-out the resource across the rest of the county, and the wider Wessex area.

Geoff Cooper, Programme Manager for the Wessex Patient Safety Collaborative at Wessex AHSN, said: “We are pleased to have collaborated with HIOW ICB, PHL Group and patient partners across Wessex to produce this training video showcasing the benefits of using the SBARD tool for communicating health concerns about care home residents.

“Anecdotal feedback from our pilot training sessions has been very positive, with care home staff describing how the video helped them to see how SBARD could be used effectively in practice. We look forward to working with partners to evaluate the initiative in the future.”

Sydney Masawi, Clinical Supervisor from the Whiteley-based PHL Group, helped devise the script for the video alongside Anne-Marie Appleton, Quality Assurance and Safeguarding Adults Nurse for the ICB in South East Hampshire.

Sydney said: “Having worked in residential care homes during my career and now working for an out of hours service, I fully support the implementation of the SBARD tool for all the benefits it will bring all parties involved in caring for patients to ensure their safe care by removing unnecessary delays for the best patient outcome.”

Anne-Marie said: “The aim and hope is that care homes will use it to learn how streamlining communications with all health services will save them time and benefit their residents. The recipients of care home calls such as South Central Ambulance Service, PHL, home visiting teams and GPs will benefit in terms of their time as well as, crucially, receiving accurate information.”

Click here to view the Using SBARD in Care Home video. 

Find out more about SBARD and the Wessex Patient Safety Collaborative.