Service user and carer involvement - 15 Steps Challenge

We all know that first impressions count and when walking on to a hospital ward the first “15 Steps” will give you an impression of what is happening on the ward. The NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement are developing the 15 Steps Challenge, a tool to support ward walk arounds, looking at productive wards from the patient perspective. The programme identifies simple things like protecting meal times, protecting drug rounds and preventing interruptions at staff handovers.

The Strategic Health Authority (SHA) are working with mental health trusts across the south of England in developing this tool for mental health, as it was originally developed for Acute Trusts. The Kent & Medway Partnership Trust (KMPT) have adapted this tool slightly to fit in with the productive mental health ward and will be part of the SHA’s work, but in the meantime will use the tool developed.

The process will be that a team of people consisting of non-executive directors, carers and services users, directors, service managers etc. will visit one to two wards every month to audit against the 15 steps criteria (no more that 4 people will be in any team). A programme will be produced and co-ordinated through the Compliance and Risk Management Team who will also work in getting teams together. A briefing session will then be delivered by the Deputy Director of Nursing to the teams.

The dates for the team briefings aimed at a more in-depth explanation of the process are 11th April in Canterbury at 2pm for 90 minutes &10th April at West Malling at 2pm for 90 minutes.

Anyone interested in getting involved in the team visits should contact Janet Lloyd, PPCI Manager Kent & Medway Partnership Trust, via email or on 01227 812034