TH7.4 Improving quality of message taking for on-call surgeons unable to answer calls during emergent operating. (9th August 2022) - Walters, Anna
Abstract: Aims: Responding appropriately to messages taken by theatre staff whilst the on-call surgeon is performing emergency operations is an important aspect of emergency care. As part of a quality improvement project we produced a standardised proforma aiming to ensure messages had sufficient information to enable the on-call surgeon to prioritise referrals according to clinical urgency Methods: Written messages from emergency theatre were collected from February to December 2021. A new proforma for message taking was introduced in May 2021. This consisted of a pre-printed A5 sheet with space for eight specified informatics to be recorded alongside the free-text message; namely, patient name, DOB, PID, location, name and role of caller and time of message. Additionally, the urgency and early warning score could be recorded. The presence or absence of the above 8 key pieces of information was examined and the score was recorded pre and post intervention. Results: There was 60% (32/53) uptake of the new proforma following its introduction. The mean quality of information score for 60 messages pre-intervention was 2.6/8 (range 1–6) compared with 3.9/8 (range 1–8) in 53 messages collected post-intervention (P = < 0.01). One out of 60 (2%) versus 11/53 (21%) had the level of urgency stated in the pre-intervention and post-intervention group respectively. Three of the 11 urgent messages additionally included patient's observations and early warning score. Conclusions: This simple and reproducible proforma produced a quantifiable improvement in the quality of messages received, enabling the on-call surgeon to better prioritise care for emergency surgery patients.