Patients at the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals are receiving nearly twice as much care time as a result of the Productive Ward (PW) initiative.

Direct care time has risen from 39% to 72% while interruptions reduced from 117 to 49 (average).

Senior Nurse of Specialist Services, Fiona Stephenson, said: “We have seen some excellent results from the PW initiative and staff have really wanted to take part in something which allows them to spend more time with patients, which is what they were trained to do.

“Increasing the direct time that qualified staff spend with patients ensures better quality, while less interruptions reduces the risk of error. The result is a better outcome for patients and an overall better patient experience.”

PW is a national initiative which focuses on improving ward processes and environments to help nurses and therapists spend more time on patient care thereby improving safety and efficiency. All wards and clinical areas at the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals took part, including Outpatients, Acute Admissions Unit, the Derwent (orthopaedics), Endoscopy and GU Medicine.

Examples of where improvements have been made include:

• The introduction of protected mealtimes on wards (Ward 18)

• The removal of patient lockers by beds to give more room for hoists, etc. around the bedside. Patient wardrobes were altered to accommodate patients’ belongings (Ward 4/5)

• Reducing clutter, for example reducing stock held on wards

• Remodelling of treatment rooms (Ward 2)

• Protected drug rounds implemented which increases time spent with patients (Ward 28)

• An extra computer desk away from the nurses station to allow easy access for all staff and saving time looking for patients results (Derwent) The achievements from the PW initiative at the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals are attracting interest from hospitals in other parts of the country who are keen to learn from these successes.