IMPROVING PATIENT HANDOVER
1. Purpose
The purpose of this document is to summarise the evidence and share good practice on effective handover
of teams because there is emerging evidence that patient handover is often a weak link in the delivery of
care. In addition, there is no published method that forms the gold standard and there is large variation in
practice.
2. Introduction
The implementation of the Working Time Directive has meant significant changes to the working patterns of
junior doctors, with a decrease in continuity of care owing to shift working. In addition, the changing patterns
of work in hospital settings mean different teams look after the same group of patients over the course of
any given day. Patient handover between shifts and teams is therefore a necessary and vital part of practice
in order to reduce the risk of medical errors. It is important to optimise communication of critical
information as an essential component of risk management and patient safety. Information must be
transferred in a written format because verbal information is prone to loss.
Handover data can also be used between shifts to prioritise outstanding clinical jobs and to create theatre
lists.
Many organisations have published on safe handover, including the following:
● The British Medical Association’s Safe handover: safe patients recommends use of pro formas and relevant
IT support.1
● The Royal College of Surgeons of England’s Safe handover recommends a minimum data set, adequate
time set aside within working hours, an environment that prevents interruption, and involvement of all
healthcare professionals.2
● In a survey by McCann et al. in a New Zealand tertiary hospital, the majority of respondents felt that an
effective handover system should include a set location for handover, a standardised ‘on call’ sheet and
training related to handovers.3
● In the USA, 31% of doctors in one survey had experienced clinical problems during their shift that could
have been avoided if they had been prepared with an adequate handover.4
● An evaluation of handover practice by Bhabra et al. showed that only 33% of data transferred verbally was
retained, while retention improved to 92% when verbal handover was supplemented by note-taking. A
computer-generated, preprinted handover sheet improved data transfer to 100%.5
● Cleland et al. suggest that junior doctors should be trained and prepared for handover while still at
medical school.6
© Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
Good Practice No. 12 2 of 4
The cornerstones for ensuring continuing care and efficiency of the handover process include regular
reviews of the handover process, written guidelines for the content of handover, and the use of a preprepared
handover sheet.
3. Effective communication
3.1 SBAR tool for improving communication within the team
The SBAR (situation – background – assessment – recommendation) tool, developed for health care by
Leonard and colleagues, may be useful as it can be used to efficiently hand over individual patients in
approximately 30–60 minutes.7 Introducing a system such as SBAR into inter-professional communication not
only improves the efficiency of communication, it also allows all members of the team lower down the
hierarchy to add to the conversation in an organised fashion. The steps involved in using SBAR are:
● Situation: describe the specific situation about a particular patient, including name, consultant, patient
location, vital signs, resuscitation status and any specific concerns.
● Background: communicate the patient’s background, including date of admission, diagnosis, current
medications, allergies, laboratory results, progress during the admission and other relevant information
collected from the patient’s charts.
● Assessment: this involves critical assessment of the situation, clinical impression and detailed expression
of concerns.
● Recommendation: this involves the management plan, making suggestions and being specific about
requests and time frame. Any order that is given, especially over the telephone or when discussed with a
doctor who has been woken from sleep, needs to be repeated back to ensure accuracy.
Implementing SBAR may seem simple, but it takes considerable training from both an individual and an
organisational point of view. It can be particularly useful in midwife/nurse-to-doctor communication, but it is
also helpful in doctor-to-doctor conversations. Another example where this tool would add to clarity and
improved care is the emergency call to a sleeping senior doctor for advice about patient management. The
request for direct help should be made clear as part of the recommendation so there is no misunderstanding.
Hospitals using SBAR have found that stickers near telephones and preprinted note pads are useful as they
act as a visual prompt.
3.2 SHARING tool for improving and standardising handover between teams
SHARING