Collaborative working empowers staff to cut the number of cardiac arrests.

ABSTRACT

PROBLEM: At Salford Royal Foundation Trust, 179 patients suffered a cardiac arrest between March 2007 and April 2008. MAINE MEASURES FOR MPROVEMENT Our primary outcome measure was the number of cardiac arrests per 1,000 admissions. STRATEGIES FOR CHANGE Eleven wards were invited to participate in a Breakthrough Series collaborative from April 2008 to January 2009. It is a short term (6-15 months) learning system thatbrings together several teams to s eekimprovement, focusing on one topic. Frontline teams worked to develop changes in their clinical areas with the aim of reducing cardiac arrests by 50% in one year. RESULTS: April-December 2008 saw a reduction of 32% in the cardiac arrest rate, resulting in an average arrest rate of 0.79 per 1,000 admissions. Since the project began to upscale its work in January 2009, a further reduction has been noted. However,another 4 months' data is required to assess whether this equates to a sustained change. CONCLUSION: Preliminary data suggests that a Breakthrough Series collaborative is an effective method of engaging frontline staff in developing and implementing change, with improvements in patient care.