Escalation Project

Early recognition of patient clinical deterioration followed by a prompt and effective response can minimise the occurrence of adverse events and may reduce the level of intervention required when delays occur. Failure to escalate care for a deteriorating patient can have devastating consequences, especially when the patient is a child.

The Escalation Project will develop a best practice approach to the early recognition and response to clinical deterioration in the WA health paediatric setting.

• reduce practice variations and provide an evidence based system
• allow nurses and doctors and families to effectively use the system
• enable safer patient monitoring
• standardise handover communication within and between hospitals
• enable clinical staff to easily work across WA health facilities
• provide a uniform pathway for families to escalate care
• embed patient and family involvement throughout.

Project timeline

Quarter 1 - November to February 2019

• Establish the steering group
• Appoint project staff
• Stakeholder engagment
• Literature review
• Baseline data collection/scoping/environmental scan
• Data collation/analysis
• January: Identify pilot sites.

Quarter 2 - March to May 2019

• Ongoing stakeholder engagement
• Consultations and identify local needs
• Develop standardised system: charts, tailored escalation plans and responses
• Research protocol, HREC and SSA
• Training pilot sites and champions
• Prepare prospective evaluation.

Quarter 3 - June to August 2019

• Ongoing stakeholder engagement
• Commence pilot
• Pilot site support
• Mix methods evaluation:
  • Audits
  • Surveys
  • Interviews
  • Focus groups.

Quarter 4 - September to December 2019

• Data analysis
• Feedback to stakeholders
• Revision and refinement system, resources and implementation tools
• Report writing and recommendations for statewide implementation
• Manuscript for publication.