Improving efficiency and infection Control for Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.
Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Community Nursing (CN) is an unpredictable and ever changing service. With the drive to reduce hospital admission, improve lives and deliver care needs closer to home, it is imperative that the Community Nurses have the support and tools that they need. Transporting equipment safely, in an organised manner has long been a challenge. Sam Charlton, Community Clinical Matron and her team at the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHSFT (RDUH) have been working with CorrMed to overcome this challenge with the development of a new community nurse bag.
The challenge
The aim was to develop a community nursing bag which was fit for purpose, supporting community teams in their challenges around storage and transportation of clinical equipment, also ensuring patient safety through adherence with infection control protocols.
Previously, community nurses have carried multiple bags (on wheels, rucksacks and sometimes carrier bags) as one bag alone was unable to safely store everything that was required, but none of which have been fit for purpose from either a community nurse or infection control perspective.
The solution
A network of Community Nurses, Clinical Matrons, Infection Control and Quality professionals came together from the RDUH, to assist leading bag designers and manufacturers CorrMed in creating a new community equipment bag.
As Clinical Matron at RDUH, Sam was keen to ensure that all community nursing staff have the essential equipment and tools to carry out their role with patients in a community setting, in a timely manner. This new community nursing bag enables CN teams to practice under infection control guidelines, whilst reducing costs and saving precious time.
The new community kit bag includes a large boot bag, filled with individual, coloured pouches which can hold dressings and equipment. A home kit bag and kneeling pad is also available, to help move the pouches from the car to the patients’ home.
"We are thrilled to have met the CorrMed team who offer such a professional and quality design service.
The Community Nurse bag will improve our organisational efficiency and infection control as we visit our patients. The new way of working will undoubtedly enhance the quality of our service, patient care and will even improve staff morale.
This has been a collaboration between many teams, both infection prevention and also the community nurses themselves.
We truly hope many other teams will now benefit from this excellent creation."
Samantha Charlton
Community Clinical Matron
Royal Devon University HealthcareNHS Foundation Trust
