Standardising crashcall numbers in English and Welsh NHS hospitals:
the feasibility study
To help minimise the risk to patients caused by delays in clinicians
summoning cardiac-resuscitation teams, the phone number 2222 has become
the national standard for in-hospital calls for help. Chris Ranger,
Assistant Director of Safety Solutions at the National Patient Safety
Agency, focuses on the survey that enabled this decision to be made.
abstract
Having at least 27 different crashcall numbers in use in NHS hospitals
causes uncertainty and delay for staff contacting the switchboard to
summon the emergency team that deals with cardiac arrests.
The increased use of agency and locum staff, greater staff mobility and
the increase in the number of trusts using more than one number due to
mergers mean that risks of delay in calling the crash team within a
hospital are greater than before.
The National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) was asked to look at the
issue by the Department of Health and the Cabinet Office’s Regulatory
Impact Unit, which aims to deliver practical changes to reduce or remove
unnecessary or bureaucratic burdens on frontline NHS staff.
A survey of NHS acute trusts found that 2222 was the most frequently
used crashcall number. The NPSA recommended in a Patient Safety Alert
issued in February 2004 that all NHS organisations providing acute
services in England and Wales plan to use 2222 as their standard crashcall
number.
Br J Healthcare Comput Info Manage 2004; 21(5): 23–5.
