Suggested actions from WHO2 include:
1. Ensure that healthcare organisations implement a standardised approach
to hand-over communication between staff, change of shift and between
different patient care units in the course of a patient transfer. Suggested
elements of this approach include:
(a) Use of the SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, and
Recommendation);
(b) Allocation of sufficient time for communicating important information and
for staff to ask and respond to questions without interruptions wherever
possible (repeat-back and read-back steps should be included in the handover
process);
(c) Provision of information regarding the patient’s status, medications,
treatment plans, advance directives, and any significant status changes;
(d) Limitation of the exchange of information to that which is necessary for
providing safe care to the patient.
2. Ensure that healthcare organisations implement systems which ensure — at the
time of hospital discharge — that the patient and the next healthcare provider
are given key information regarding discharge diagnosis, treatment plans,
medications, and test results.
3. Incorporate training on effective hand-over communication into the
educational curricula and continuing professional development for healthcare
professionals.
4. Encourage communication between organisations that are providing care
to the same patient in parallel (for example, traditional and
non-traditional providers).