Welcome to the Right Decision Service (RDS) newsletter for April 2024.
Tactuum has been working hard to address the issues experienced during the last week. They have identified a series of three mitigation measures and put the first of these in place on Friday 3rd May. If this does not resolve the problems, the second mitigation will be actioned, and then the third if necessary.
Please keep a lookout for any slowing down of the system or getting locked out. Please email myself, mbuchner@tactuum.com and onivarova@tactuum.com if you experience any problems, and also please raise an urgent support ticket via the Support Portal.
Thank you for your patience and understanding while we achieve a full resolution.
A rotating carousel presenting some of the key RDS tools and capabilities, and an editable slideset, are now available in the Resources for RDS providers section of the Learning and Support toolkit.
The redesign of RDS Search and Browse is still on-track for delivery by mid-June 2024. We then plan to have a 3-week user acceptance testing phase before release to live. All editors and toolkit owners on this mailing list will be invited to participate in the UAT.
The archiving and version control functionality is also progressing well and we will advise on timescales for user acceptance testing shortly.
Tactuum is also progressing with the deep linking to individual toolkits within the mobile RDS app. There are several unknowns around the time and effort required for this work, which will only become clear as the work progresses. So we need to be careful to protect budget for this purpose.
These have all been compiled and effort estimated. Once the redesign work is complete, these will be prioritised in line with the remaining budget. We expect this to take place around late June.
Many thanks to those of you completed the value and impact survey we distributed in February. Here are some key findings from the 65 responses we received.
Figure 1: Impact of RDS on direct delivery of care
Key figures
Figure 2 shows RDS impact to date on delivery of health and care services
Key figures
These data show how RDS is already contributing to NHS reform priorities and supporting delivery of more sustainable care.
Saving time and money
Quality assurance and governance
Service innovation and workforce development
A few examples of toolkits published to live in the last month:
Some of the toolkits the RDS team is currently working on:
Please contact his.decisionsupport@nhs.scot if you would like to learn more about a toolkit. The RDS team will put you in touch with the relevant toolkit lead.
Thanks to all of you who have responded to the retrospective quality audit survey and to the follow up questions. We still have some following up to do, and to work with owners of a further 23 toolkits to complete responses. An interim report is being presented to the HIS Quality and Performance Committee.
Eight clinical services and two public library services are undertaking tests of change to implement the Being a partner in my care app. This app aims to support patients and the public to become active participants in Realistic Medicine. It has a strong focus on personalised, person-centred care and a library of shared decision aids, as well as simple explanations and videoclips to help the public to understand the aims of Realistic Medicine. The tests of change will inform guidance and an implementation model around wider adoption and spread of the app.
With kind regards
Right Decision Service team
Healthcare Improvement Scotland
When a person is found to be, or is thought to be, suffering from an infection, it is necessary to consider the possible source and route of transmission (passing on) in order to apply appropriate control measures. This may include isolating an individual from others within a care home or community based unit.
You may consider this to be not relevant in a person’s home. However, if you are attending to an individual with an illness such as Norovirus infection there is the potential to isolate the toilet the individual uses if there is more than one toilet in the house, or disinfect bathroom in between uses if only one available.
Within the care home setting it is important to promptly assess an individual for infection risk on their arrival.
NOTE: Standard Infection Control Precautions (SICPs) may be insufficient to prevent transmission of some infections. Additional precautions called Transmission Based Precautions (TBPs) are required to be used by staff. Refer to the National Infection Prevention and Control Manual and/or local policy for further information on TBPs.
Remember:
People who may present an infection risk are those:
People can become infected in various ways:
In the care home setting you may need to consider isolating a person in a single room, ideally with their own toilet and handwashing facilities. This can be a frightening situation for the person affected and their family, and the reason for isolation must be explained.
Local procedures and policies on infection risk assessment must be followed, the infection risk documented, and action taken.
The risk assessment should influence placement of a person according to clinical/care needs.
The assessment should be reviewed throughout the person’s stay as per local procedures and policies.
Preventing infection in social care settings