Developing a course for primary care healthcare assistants in recognising and responding to deteriorating patients
Intended for healthcare professionals
Evidence and practice    

Developing a course for primary care healthcare assistants in recognising and responding to deteriorating patients

Susan Clarke Head of workforce and education, South Eastern Hampshire Clinical Care Commissioning Group, Fareham, Hampshire, England
Laura Wood Clinical lead for bedside emergency assessment course for healthcare staff (BEACH) course and clinical educator acute life-threatening events recognition and treatment (ALERT) course and resuscitation, Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust, Hampshire, England
Annette Farrell Primary care learning environment lead – band 1-4, Health Education England, Winchester, England
Penny Evison Clinical quality practice nurse lead, South Eastern Hampshire Clinical Care Commissioning Group, Hampshire, England
Philippa Stupple Programme director for general practice nursing, Health Education England, Wessex, Winchester, England

The acuity of patients being seen and treated in primary care is changing. This article substantiates the gap in current practice and shows the effect on primary care healthcare assistants’ (HCAs) confidence of providing a course that covers the knowledge and skills needed to recognise and respond to a deteriorating patient. It discusses the changing acuity of patients being seen and treated in primary care and shows how a course initially developed for hospital HCAs has been adapted for primary care. The primary care staff course bedside emergency assessment course for healthcare (BEACH) helps HCAs to recognise and take specific action to ensure that safe and competent care is maintained through early recognition, supported decision-making and prompt escalation of deteriorating patients.

Primary Health Care. doi: 10.7748/phc.2019.e1495

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and has been checked for plagiarism using automated software

Correspondence

susan.clarke17@nhs.net

Conflict of interest

None declared

Clarke S, Wood L, Farrell A et al (2019) Developing a course for primary care healthcare assistants in recognising and responding to deteriorating patients. Primary Health Care. doi: 10.7748/phc.2019.e1495

Published online: 26 February 2019

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