ED Assembly: Introducing a Simple Method of Bringing Emergency Department Staff Together to Facilitate Improvement; A Report of a Real Experience

The emergency department (ED) at Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (ASPH) is a medium size department which sees around 260-300 patients per day. As a result of sustained demand, we continue to struggle to meet the four hour waiting target and face similar challenges of those of ED’s nationally. Working in a busy ED is challenging and demanding. specific challenges around communication and risks arise directly from the unique contextual demands of the ED environment.

Aim being to improve the productivity of the ED team and find a mechanism to create a more supportive and enjoyable working environment within the department.

Our clinical leadership started looking for answer to improve communication among team members and to create a platform where there was no hierarchy and all team members could be directly involved in problem solving. With the support of the quality improvement (QI) team, ED assembly was born. The assembly is a simple method of regularly bringing together staff to facilitate improvement and better team working. It is a platform for effective communication and innovation, in which there is no hierarchy and everyone is encouraged to contribute.

The assembly runs to a routine; every other Wednesday at 11am, the team come together for just half an hour. The agenda is set by the team in advance and everyone is encouraged to contribute their ideas and items they wish to contribute to others. Here are some examples of the quality improvement initiatives that have been born out of ED assembly: ED board rounds, coding information, overdose proforma, timely completion of standard investigations, access to fracture clinic appointments, nil-by-mouth communication, safety huddles, patient safety and sepsis, inclusive improvement, adoption of the ED assembly model by other teams and etc.

ED assembly has supported many small but effective QI initiatives and regular communications support timely feedback on progress and update on plan-do-study-act (PDSA) cycles, resulting in changes in the everyday practice and improved pathways of patient care.