This project is now closed but you may find the resources and information useful. These were correct at the time of publication.
A key ambition of the Managing Deterioration Safety Improvement Programme (ManDetSIP) was to support testing of the national Paediatric Early Warning System (nPEWS) across a cohort of hospitals by the end of September 2022.
PEWS can effectively recognise and respond to an acutely deteriorating child or young person. While almost all hospitals use a form of PEWS, currently there is no single nationally-validated system in England. A standardised PEWS tool used in every inpatient setting could help eliminate variation and remove the challenge for clinical staff as they move between sites using different observation charts, scoring systems and escalation processes.
NHS England & Improvement have been working with Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) and Royal College of Nursing (RCN) to standardise the charts across all NHS systems. System-Wide Paediatric Observations Tracking (SPOT) is designed to monitor deterioration in children for a range of conditions on hospital wards.
The initial focus was on developing a system that works in inpatient settings. It is intended to adapt and expand the PEWS system into emergency departments (EDs), the community, ambulances and primary care. The chart will be available in both paper and digital formats, so Trusts can use either depending on what systems they already have in place.
Over 30 sites were chosen to pilot of the new chart with two acute sites in the West of England: Gloucestershire Hospitals and Royal United Hospitals Bath.
Find out more
For more information on PEWS in the West of England, please contact our patient safety team.
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