Improving communication at NHS Nightingale Hospital North West: Medical updates to next of kin

BACKGROUND: The Nightingale North West (NNW) was a UK temporary field hospital set up during the COVID-19 pandemic. Policies and standard operating procedures were undeveloped. Visitors were permitted only in exceptional circumstances, resulting in heightened anxiety for patients and next of kin (NOK). OBJECTIVE: Recognising the importance of effective NOK communication, a quality improvement project (QIP) was undertaken to improve communication between doctors and NOK. METHOD: NOK satisfaction with communication received from doctors (scored 1–5) was the primary outcome measure and data was collected through standardised phone-calls. A wide four point (1–5) variability in satisfaction was identified. PDSA methodology was used to introduce interventions: (1) ‘Gold standard’ for frequency of NOK updates; (2) Record date of NOK update on the doctors’ list. RESULTS: Early post-intervention data showed reduced variability in satisfaction with 82% of NOK scoring ‘4’ or ‘5’. Process measures demonstrated excellent uptake of interventions. CONCLUSION: Conclusions are limited by the project’s short time-frame but there is a promising role for these interventions in enhancing doctor-NOK communication.