Feedback from Stepping Hill

1. Feedback from Stepping Hill • “Many patients (with or with out their carer) that present at A&E do not know what medication they are on. • During normal office hours the medical team at Stepping Hill phones the patient’s GP surgery to find out key patient information. However, this is not possible if a patient presents at A&E out of hours. • If we had rapid, easy access to medication, allergy and medical history information we could provide safer care for patients. • Recent example: • A patient arrived at A&E on a Sunday evening with Parkinson’s disease and was not able tell the medical team what medication they were on. Therefore the team had to wait until the surgery opened the following day. However, by the the early hours of Monday morning the patient had ceased up. This would have been entirely preventable had we known the patient’s medication. • Other clinical experience at Stepping Hill • If an adult presents with a tetanus prone wound it would be good to know what their vaccination status was • If a patient presents with a head injury and are on warfarin, we tend to do a CT scan earlier with less in the way of symptoms • If a patients presents who is already under psychiatric care, then their information is very difficult to access as it is held by another trust” • Dr Alistair Gray • Clinical Director for Emergency Medicine, NHS Stockport Foundation Trust