AH ANNUAL REPORT 2018

The Harmonic Oscillator
This was a project funded by the Australian
Government exploring the impact of sound on
wellbeing through a series of residencies by
international artist Vic McEwan, culminating in a
Tate Liverpool exhibition and presentation at the
International Conference of Culture, Health and
Wellbeing in June 2017. The artist worked with patients,
families and staff over a three year period, exploring
sound and creating new artwork, including an app, a
publication, an exhibition and radio documentary.
‘smalldances’ App
This is the UKs first somatic child focused dance app,
‘Smalldances’ aimed at parents/carers of long term
hospitalised children produced in collaboration with
Small Things Dance Company; the app was funded by
Arts Council England and Children in Need, and was
launched in November 2017. It is the culmination of over
10 years of award winning dance participation at Alder
Hey.
Our regular dance and movement work has continued
to support patients and their families on the cardiac,
neuro medical and renal dialysis wards, funded
generously through Children in Need.
Improving Signage and Wayfinding for
Children and Families
Patient feedback including the Patient Led Assessment
of the Care Environment (PLACE) assessment, has
helped the Trust to identify a number of areas that
require improvement to reduce stress, improve safety
and improve the experience of children and families
who are anxious about attending the hospital. In
particular a number of opportunities to improve signage
and wayfinding, making it easier for children and
families to find their way around the hospital have been
implemented over the past 12 months.
Improvements 2017/18
• Welcome signs written in multiple languages at every
entry point on each level of the car park
• Improved signage for disabled parking
• Created dedicated waiting space inside the atrium for
families waiting for a taxi pick up
• Increased visibility of no smoking signs around the
grounds of the hospital
• Improved handwashing signage in toilets
• Electronic notice boards placed on every ward
displaying staffing levels and other information for the
patients and families
• Increased number of volunteers to help support
families with booking in and finding the way to their
destination. Currently we have over 490 volunteers
active within the Trust
• New welcome desk in place at the A&E end of the
atrium, staffed by volunteers
• Infection control signage in every lift reminding
everyone of the importance of good hygiene to keep
children safe
• Introduced ‘Alder Play App’, to improve wayfinding,
familiarisation and distraction for our patients.
Future Plans
• Further develop our electronic/interactive
improvements through the Alder Play App
• Introduce a second welcome desk at the outpatients’
end of the atrium
• Continue to consult with our patients and families to
identify further opportunities for improvements.
3.3.6 Medication Safety (Sign Up To
Safety Pledge)
Aim: No drug errors resulting in avoidable harm.
Targets were set in the Sign up to Safety
improvement plan 2015/18.
Targets: From 2014/15 baseline:
• Reduce all medication errors that result in harm
by 25% by March 2018;
Baseline: 128 Target: 96.
• Reduce medication errors that result in
moderate, severe harm or death by 50% by
March 2018;
Baseline: 4 Target: 2.
Outcomes:
• Total medication errors resulting in harm reduced
from 128 to 32 representing a 75% reduction
since April 2014.
• Medication errors resulting in moderate, severe
harm or death reduced from 4 to 0 (zero)
representing 100% reduction.
• 72% increase in medication incident reporting
since 2014/15. From 703 to 1,209 medication
incidents reported.
• Decrease from 18.2% to 2.6% of medication
incidents associated with harm attached since
2014/15.
Almost every patient who is admitted to hospital
requires medication. Prescribing, administering
and dispensing medicines for children are complex
processes and require specialist knowledge and
Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust 129
Annual Report & Accounts 2017/18