Case Study - University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW)
Bespoke record card becomes best practice in NHS Trust
Background
To help patients suffering from an Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) get the best continued care in any healthcare setting, the Vascular department of University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) has worked with LG Davis to develop a record card to accurately record and report their ongoing care.
AAA, which is characterised as a ballooning of the wall of the aortic artery within the stomach, often has no other symptoms, so the card is used to keep a personal record of their regular scan results.
AAA patients receive regular ultrasound scans to monitor the size of the aneurysm. This information is vital when a patient is being treated for other medical situations and can affect antibiotic use, surgery and emergency treatment.
Traditionally results were uploaded to the hospital records, but as different GPs and Trusts use different systems they weren’t always accessible outside of the hospital, meaning patients had to remember to pass on the details.
With accurate AAA data relevant in a number of medical situations, UHCW wanted to create a handheld record which would help patients provide the details needed and also help them to take charge of their own medical condition.
“LG Davis were really helpful in bringing our vision to life. John took the time to listen and to get to know what we wanted. I gave him a rough idea and he made it happen."
Suzanne Davies, Vascular Nurse Specialist, University Hospital Coventry Warwickshire NHS Trust
The Solution
LG Davis created a folding card which opens out to reveal the latest results and measurements, as well as the date of the next scan. Small enough to be discreetly kept in a purse or wallet, the record card was designed with support from patient forums to make sure it met all the needs of the patients.
Every patient that visits Nurse Surveillance for an ultrasound scan is now provided with a card and the team is receiving positive feedback about how the record cards are helping patients to have up to date information to hand.
The Challenges
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As this was a new initiative, there was nothing similar anywhere else and the card needed to be completely designed and created from scratch
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Traditional credit card style record cards didn’t provide enough space for information to be clearly recorded
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Not all GPs and hospitals could access the notes on the system meaning that it relied on patients remembering the information if requested by medical professionals outside of the hospital trust
"The finished result was perfect and so well received it has even become best practice and adopted by other departments in the Trust."
Successes
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The folding record card has now been recognised as best practice within the Trust and is being rolled out across other departments
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Every patient visiting Nurse Surveillance for regular scans now gets a record card meaning the results are now recorded both digitally and in the handheld notes
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Feedback from patients has been extremely positive as the record card makes vital information easily accessible
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