Do Quality and Safe Care Champions in community nursing teams positively impact on patients?

Abstract

Quality Always' Clinical Assessment and Accreditation Scheme (CAAS), which consists of a process of assessments, reviews and accreditation in community healthcare services, was established in 2014 to drive improvements in the quality of patient care. The authors set out to understand whether the methodologies put in place to establish quality patient care were effective within the community nursing setting. To understand whether a quality and safe care champions network would support frontline community staff to embed evidence-based practice and affect the quality of care received by patients in the community setting. A study was undertaken on data from the CAAS, as well as patient safety and experience data, to identify whether there was any correlation between quality and safe care champions and the quality of patient care. The authors identified data and practical examples to demonstrate a correlation between the engagement of champions in a community nursing team and improvement in quality standards for patients, including the most effective methods of engaging the community nursing quality and safe care champions. The authors conducted a benefits realisation exercise using elements of the East London NHS Foundation Trust's framework. This provided useful information for the community trust as a proof of concept regarding supporting a network of Quality and safe care champions in the community setting and understanding their impact on safe patient care.