This was due to the staff not having the time to complete the incident report forms on the computer system.
We have introduced a simple form that captures the minimum information required which can be completed in a minute with a patient sticker and a brief outline of what happened
DatixReportingFormDatixReportingForm.
They are printed on orange paper so that they are easily recognisable and don't get mixed in with other paperwork and they are simply left in boxes around the department which are emptied several times a day to protect confidentiality.
The form is then manually entered into the datix system at a later date.
This has led to a massive increase in our reporting with around a 4 fold increase in the number of incidents reported in January.
We believe that improving our reporting rates is the first step to improving patient safety by learning from incidents and highlighting how dangerous serious overcrowding in an emergency department is for patients.
We would like to see this spread to other busy departments, the form is very simple to use and easy to share