There are several potential benefits from
implementing a community mental health nursing
handover form. Patients should not be required
to repeat information to different healthcare
professionals, which supports recommendations
that health and social care providers should ensure
service users do not undergo multiple assessments
unnecessarily (NICE 2011). As an essential
communication tool, the handover form has the
potential to improve patient safety by providing
the nursing team with important, accurate
information about the patient. Professionals often
report that nursing handover is time-consuming
and includes information that is irrelevant or
already in the patient’s notes (Kerr et al 2011). It
is anticipated that the form will reduce handover
time and increase efficiency by focusing on
pertinent and current patient information.