Photo Credit: Akarawut Lohacharoenvanich
The following is a summary of “Estimating the link between service-user patient safety perceptions, incidents and subsequent contagion in acute mental health wards,” published in the November 2024 issue of Psychiatry by Baker et al.
Safety incidents are common in adult acute inpatient mental health services and can spread through social contagion. The WardSonar project developed a digital tool to collect real-time patient feedback on ward safety, aiming to predict incidents and improve safety.
Researchers conducted a prospective study to evaluate a digital safety monitoring tool in acute adult mental health wards, assessing the feasibility of capturing real-time patient feedback on safety and its correlation with quality and safety metrics.
They implemented the tool in 6 NHS adult acute mental health wards in the UK, allowing patients to record real-time perceptions of ward safety. The data, collected as anonymous, aggregated reports, were analyzed using an hour-by-hour dataset for each ward, examining relationships between patient feedback, staffing, time of day, and ward incidents.
The results showed a significant increase in the probability of further incidents within 4 hours of an initial event, supporting social contagion. COVID-19 impacted research processes.
They concluded that the WardSonar digital tool showed potential for proactive real-time safety monitoring and identifying developing incidents. Further refinement and testing in a post-COVID-19 context were needed.
Source: bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-024-06261-6
