July Update

ESCALATION project- July Update
PARROT Chart Update
The ESCALATION project team are very excited to say after two months of comprehensive consultation the 5 Paediatric Acute Recognition and Response Observation Tool (PARROT) charts are finally heading to the printers. This is a great achievement and significant milestone for the project.  In two weeks’ time hard copies should be available. During the past two months, there have been over 50 Paediatric expert clinicians, researchers and Health consumers who provided constructive feedback about the chart. In addition, posters and flyers have been developed to promote the PARROT and family engagement. These will be displayed in the areas during the trial.

Training Day- PARROT
Acute clinical deterioration can happen at any point during a child’s admission to hospital. Evidence suggests in the hours before acute deterioration events such as cardiac arrest or unplanned admission to critical care paediatric patients show early signs and symptoms. This means there are opportunities to intervene early and prevent these events. The ESCALATION project has developed the Paediatric Acute Recognition and Response Observation Tool (PARROT) as an aid to the early warning system to improve early recognition and response to acute deterioration. This tool is to be trialled in WA health care settings in the coming months.
On July 4th 2019, 18 key educators and paediatric expert clinicians participated in a training day for the roll out of the PARROT with the ESCALATION project team. 

The training day priorities included

• The introduction of the standardised observation chart, PARROT 
• Education and training to support the staff during the pilot of the PARROT
• Discussion about the systems to involve the family  and how families can escalate concerns if they feel worried about any deterioration in their child’s condition
• Discussion about the communication strategy iSoBAR NOW and importance of clinical handover in the Escalation system

Staff feedback from the evaluation of the training day highlighted the importance of the day included:

• Information about the ESCALATION project which will enable the trainers to  support and educate colleagues in the use of PARROT charts and the reasons for its importance
• Provide constructive feedback on the charts before the final production
• An understanding of how the chart will work within each health service setting
• A greater understanding of the research behind the deteriorating patient and the about evidence that supported the development of the chart
• Understand the importance of the Health Consumers perspective and family involvement in the escalation of the deteriorating patient

 
Health Consumer Engagement
Parents play an important role in ESCALATION system, as they can sometimes notice vital changes in their child’s condition more quickly and easily than the health care team, which can lead to a quicker medical response. The ESCALATION project team have consulted with consumers in Broome, Bunbury and Perth.  A survey had recently been circulated in electronic format via both Perth Children’s Hospital Facebook team and the Health Consumer Council network. The focus of the survey was to hear from consumers who have had their child admitted to hospital in Western Australia. Thank you to the Health Consumer Council and Perth Children’s Hospital for supporting the ESCALATION project and the survey. 

Dr Fiona Geddes, Adjunct Research Fellow and Research Project Manager for the School of Nursing, Midwifery & Paramedicine Faculty of Health Science is presenting at the ESCALATION training day, July 2019 at PCH.