Safer Scoring

NEWS+Strain (Quant): Ward strain to support and manage patient deterioration

When hospitals are under pressure, patients can be at risk. For example, when there are fewer nurses available per patient, harms are more likely to occur. If one patient becomes very unwell, nurses must focus their attention there, meaning nearby patients may receive less care and their safety could also be affected.

This study will develop a way to define and measure “healthcare strain” – the stress placed on hospital staff and systems when patient needs exceed available resources. We will use electronic health record (EHR) data to build a measure (or “phenotype”) of strain, which will take into account: patients’ long-term health problems, the complexity of their care (such as how many intravenous medicines are needed), their clinical severity (measured using NEWS scores), and nurse-to-patient ratios.

We will then design interventions to reduce strain, such as using data-driven methods to guide smarter redeployment of staff to where they are most needed. 

Lead Investigators

Katharina kohler

Jonathan Gillham