Welcome to the Right Decision Service (RDS) newsletter for August 2024.
Following the recent RDS outages, Tactuum and the RDS team have been reviewing the learning from these incidents. We are committed to doing all we can to ensure a positive outcome by strengthening the RDS to make it fully robust and clinically resilient for the future.
We would like to invite you to a webinar on 26th September 3-4 pm on national and local contingency planning for future RDS outages. Tactuum and the RDS team will speak about our business continuity plans and the national contingency arrangements we are putting in place. This will also be a space to share local contingency plans, ideas and existing good practice. We would also like to gather your views on who we should send communications to in the event of future outages.
I have sent a meeting request for this date to all editors – please accept or decline to indicate attendance, and please forward on to relevant contacts. You can also contact Olivia.graham@nhs.scot directly to register your interest in participating.
2.National IV fluid prescribing calculator
This UK CA marked calculator is now live at https://righdecisions.scot.nhs.uk/ivfluids . It has been developed by a multiprofessional steering group of leads in IV fluids management, as part of the wider Modernising Patient Pathways Programme within the Centre for Sustainable Delivery. It aims to address a known cause of clinical error in hospital settings, and we hope it will be especially useful to the new junior doctors who started in August.
Please do spread the word about this new calculator and get in touch with any questions.
The following toolkits are now live;
We have updated and simplified this guidance within our standard operating procedures. We have clarified the guidance on how to determine whether an RDS tool is a medical device, and have provided an interactive powerpoint slideset to steer you through the process.
We have developed a guide to support editors and toolkit leads through the process of scoping, designing, delivering, quality assuring and implementing a new RDS toolkit. We hope this will help in project planning and in building shared understanding of responsibilities throughout the full development process. The guide emphasises that the project does not end with launch of the new toolkit. Implementation, communication and evaluation are ongoing activities throughout the lifetime of the toolkit.
To book a place, please contact Olivia.graham@nhs.scot, providing your name, organisation, job role, and level of experience with RDS editing (none, a little, moderate, extensive.)
7 Evaluation projects
Dr Stephen Biggart from NHS Lothian has kindly shared with us the results of a recent survey of use of the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh Anaesthesia toolkit. This shows that the majority of consultants are using it weekly or monthly, mainly to access clinical protocols, with a secondary purpose being education and training purposes. They tend to find information by navigating by specialty rather than keyword searching, and had some useful recommendations for future development, such as access to quick reference guidance.
We’d really appreciate you sharing any other local evaluations of RDS in this way – it all helps to build the evidence base for impact.
If you have any questions about the content of this newsletter, please contact his.decisionsupport@nhs.scot If you would prefer not to receive future newsletters, please email Olivia.graham@nhs.scot and ask to be removed from the circulation list.
With kind regards
Right Decision Service team
Healthcare Improvement Scotland
MRI Department
Borders General Hospital
Huntlyburn Terrace
Melrose
TD6 9BS
Contact Us:
MRI Department
Borders General Hospital
Telephone: 01896 826432
Please contact the department if you have any assistance needs.
Please contact tel:01896 826442 for a copy of this information in:
"Information given on this site is not meant to take the place of a talk with your doctor or health worker."
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) combines a powerful magnet with a sophisticated computer. It produces pictures of the body without the need for x-rays.
The detail seen in these pictures is so good that the scanner can pick up structures as small as two millimetres. This helps find disease and injury early on. This then allows treatment to start sooner
You will have to fill out a safety questionnaire before your scan, as MRI is not safe for some people. You cannot be scanned at BGH if you have any of the following:
You may also not be able to have an MRI scan -
For some scans you may be able to watch a suitable DVD or listen to a CD if you would like to make use of this facility please bring a DVD or CD with you.
No, unless you have been told otherwise. You may eat and drink as normal and take your prescribed medicines.
You will be asked to change into hospital scrubs or a gown.
We may ask you to remove:
all piercings MUST be removed before you arrive at the department. You will not be allowed a scan with piercing in situ
If possible, please leave all your valuables at home. We will give you a locker but we cannot accept responsibility for anything that is lost.
If your spoken English is not very good, we can arrange an interpreter for you.
If there is a chance that you may be pregnant, please call our receptionist before your appointment date. ( tel:01896 826432)
Please report to the receptionist in the CT and MRI Scanning Suite at the time given on the front of this leaflet.
A member of staff will:
You may wish to bring something to read while you wait for your scan
The radiographer will position you on the scanner table. The table is moved into the scanner, which is open at both ends.
You will feel no discomfort, but during the scan you may hear some buzzing or tapping noises. These are harmless.
The radiographer operating the scanner will be able to see and hear you during the scan. If you have any concerns, you just have to say.
The scan may take between 20 to 60 minutes. You may be asked to hold your breath for a few seconds to make sure of sharper images of your upper body.
While you are being scanned we may give you an injection. This will be to improve part of the scan, or to show the blood vessels. The injection will be given into a vein in your arm or hand. It should not have any adverse effect.
The images will be checked to make sure we have all the information we need. You will then be able to go home.
We store your scans for future reference.
Your results will be sent to the referrer who asked for this test. We will give you a letter explaining this when you come for your appointment.
We want to make your visit to the Borders General Hospital CT and MRI Scanning Suite as pleasant as possible. We try to provide the best service for you.
If you have any questions not covered by this guide, please telephone our receptionist on tel:01896 826 432.
There is free parking at the hospital. Please allow plenty of time to find a parking space, as the car park is usually very busy.
There is disabled parking close to the main building, in Car Park 2.
The CT/MRI Scanning Suite is on the ground floor.
Further information http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/27000352/
Patient information leaflets