Collaborative working empowers staff to cut the number of cardiac arrests.
OBJECTIVE
At Salford Royal Foundation Trust, 179 patients suffered a cardiac arrest between March 2007 and April 2008. MAINE MEASURES FOR MPROVEMENT: Our primary outcome measure was the number of cardiac arrests per 1,000 admissions.


METHODS
Eleven wards were invited to participate in a Breakthrough Series collaborative from April 2008 to January 2009. It is a short term (6-15 months) learning system thatbrings together several teams to s eekimprovement, focusing on one topic. Frontline teams worked to develop changes in their clinical areas with the aim of reducing cardiac arrests by 50% in one year.


RESULTS
April-December 2008 saw a reduction of 32% in the cardiac arrest rate, resulting in an average arrest rate of 0.79 per 1,000 admissions. Since the project began to upscale its work in January 2009, a further reduction has been noted. However,another 4 months' data is required to assess whether this equates to a sustained change.


CONCLUSIONS
Preliminary data suggests that a Breakthrough Series collaborative is an effective method of engaging frontline staff in developing and implementing change, with improvements in patient care.
Donaldson
Emma
E
Murphy
Peter
P
D000328:Adult; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration; D012308:Risk Management / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration; D013192:Staff Development / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration; D006113:United Kingdom