Adapting the NEWS early warning tool to assess patients in the community
Creating baseline measurements in the patient’s own home ‘makes perfect sense’
With increasing numbers of acutely unwell patients being cared for at home, accurate assessment of whether someone is improving or deteriorating is critically important.
‘Safety is paramount in the management of any patient, but especially so when the person is acutely ill,’ says community matron and emergency nurse practitioner Pauline Angell, who works in rapid response, part of the urgent care division at North Somerset Community Partnership (NSCP).
A baseline measurement for handover
Back in 2011 – a year before the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) introduced its now widely used National Early Warning Score (NEWS) system – staff at the partnership had begun to devise their own early warning system, using it in their community
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