Keeping patients warm for surgery

In our #SolvingTogether Tweet Chat, we asked what has been an impactful intervention in reducing waiting times? 

Kate Pound suggested the use of blanket warmers in Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust for pre-op, overall requiring less time in recovery 

Problem: Following a temperature audit in theatre recovery it was highlighted that on several occasions patients were coming to theatre with temperatures below the recommended NICE guidelines.

Impact: This has been identified as an area of concern as audits on temperature regulation of patients coming through the department has shown that a majority of patients are cold when they enter recovery. If patients were warm pre-operatively this helps reduce delays and gives patients a better experience in our care.

Idea: The patient escort staff and recovery staff were successful in securing funding for a blanket warming cabinet for patients waiting in reception to go into theatre. This came from charitable funds allocated to well-organised theatres and distributed through a Dragon’s Den-type process. Once we had the money for the blanket warmer, we trained the escort staff on taking temperatures so they could highlight problems early. Recovery practitioners Staff Nurse Tesorero and Staff Nurse Parveen, gave the training to the patient escort staff and Melissa Yates developed a flow chart for them to refer to so they knew what action needed to be taken.

Benefits: This gives patient escorts an early warning of a patient’s wellbeing, especially if they have come from the admissions lounge, and they can take the appropriate action to enable a more successful anaesthetic outcome for patients. It will also help to mitigate the amount of hold-ups that may occur with the anaesthetic procedure. Patients feel warm, comfortable and more relaxed before going to theatre. It has also reduced delays in the anaesthetic room as it is now easier to cannulate patients who are warm.

Melissa Yates (Senior Staff Nurse), Jun Tesorero (Staff Nurse), Khalida Parveen (Staff Nurse), Andy Hampshire (Patient Escort) and Paul Mabbott (Patient Escort)

@KateSlater2 Kate Pound said "best innovation which supported increased theatre capacity was just so simple, blanket warmer in theatre reception so pts weren’t cold going into the op. Impact was that pts being warm going into surgery required less time in theatre recovery"