New diabetes tool helps to improve patient safety
Diabetes specialists at Solent NHS Trust have won an award for developing a new tool to improve care and safety for housebound patients.
The tool – known as C.R.A.S.H. (Chronic Kidney Disease, Risk of Frailty, Amputations, Steroids, Hypo/Hyperglycaemia) – helps community nurses who are caring for patients requiring insulin to identify and escalate issues and concerns quickly, resulting in quicker and safer treatment.
Nurses use a scoring system to establish if there have been changes in the patient’s circumstances that could impact their diabetes control. If the score passes a certain threshold, then their GP would be informed and it would be flagged to the Diabetes Team.
It has been designed to enhance current nurse reviews and prioritise patient referrals to the diabetes service.
The Wessex Academic Health and Science Network presented community diabetes nurses and the diabetes team with the award today, Tuesday 17 September 2019, as part of World Patient Safety Day.
Emma Ives, Specialist Diabetes Nurse at Solent NHS Trust, said: “The C.R.A.S.H. tool is a fantastic innovation that really helps to improve patient care and safety for those housebound patients who do not have access to care within GP surgeries or hospitals.
“It allows us to quickly identify and escalate concerns, which helps prevent delays in treatment changes and development in diabetes-related complications.
“It also has helped to stop the risk of hypoglycaemic events and subsequent falls or other health events.”