Early warning system a boost to patient care

Sinceits introduction across Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC)’s network ofhospitals two years ago, the Qatar Early Warning System (QEWS) has had areal impact on patient care and reduced unplanned visits to theIntensive Care Unit.The QEWS is a standardised approach tocategorising a patient’s severity of illness, using a scoring systemthat prompts medical intervention at specific trigger points.Thesystem, which is adapted from an Australian model, acts as a safety net,identifying clinical deterioration in a patient’s condition andprompting specific action.The importance of the early warningscoring system is underscored by the high number of patients cared forat Hamad General Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU), which receivesupwards of 1,500 patients each year.Approximately 900 patients classified as critical trauma cases are also received at the ICU each year.Accordingto Dr Ibrahim Fawzy Hassan, who is the director of the MedicalIntensive Care Division and deputy medical director of the AmbulanceService, the QEWS was developed to help clinical staff recognisedeteriorating patients before they become very sick.He said that its implementation at HMC has had a real and meaningful impact.DrHassan says the early warning system, combined with trained rapidresponse teams, has substantially improved patient care and reduced thenumber of unplanned ICU admissions.“Early warning scoring systemslike the QEWS are widely used in hospitals around the world to trackpatient deterioration and to trigger escalations in clinical monitoringand rapid response,” he said.The early warning scoring system, whichwas introduced across eight HMC hospitals in November and December2015, follows a definitive escalation plan that prompts nursing staff torequest a medical review at specific trigger points, utilising astructured communication tool and common language.“The systeminvolves monitoring a patient’s vital signs to identify their likelihoodof deteriorating,” Dr Hassan said. “Should a patient show signs ofdeteriorating, the system triggers a warning so that care can beescalated.”“The system is being used across all HMC tertiary andgeneral hospitals and has delivered substantial benefits to patients,”he added.