Paediatric Rapid Reviews: Do They Enable Timely Patient Review and Appropriate Escalation?

Rapid reviews (RRs) were introduced in Bristol Royal Hospital for Children (BRHC) in 2017 as part of a Trust-wide patient safety initiative. RRs aim to improve the rapid assessment and expectant management of unwell patients, and prevent unrecognised deterioration on the wards. All RR calls in 2018 and 2019 were reviewed using hospital switchboard and Datix submission data. Since introduction, RR calls have become ingrained within hospital culture, improving early recognition of unwell patients with call numbers rising by 75.9% in a year and Datix reporting increasing from 24.5% in 2018 to 48.9% in 2019. There were also no documented cardiac arrests on the ward outside of PICU in 2019.