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Communication and record keeping
Target
a) The CRT has handover meetings between each CRT shift.
b) All day time shifts start with handovers reviewing clinical status and immediate action steps for all current CRT service users.
c) The CRT has whole-team meetings at least once per month to address staff issues, team procedures and organisation (clinical discussions of clients are not held at this meetings).
d) CRT staff contacts with service users are written up in patient records the same day at least 90% of the time.
e) CRT staff have immediate out-of-office access to read and write patient records.
Why this is important
Because CRTs use a whole team approach and a shift system, good information sharing can be a challenge. Clear systems to achieve this are needed. CRT staff interviewed for the CORE study valued shift handovers as an effective way to share information and plan care for CRT service users.
Examples of good practice
In our fidelity review survey of 75 crisis teams in 2014, the following teams achieved excellent model fidelity, and can be contacted for advice about how they achieved this:
- Islington CRT, Camden & Islington NHS Foundation Trust
- Maidstone CRT, Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust
- Northamptonshire South CRHTT, Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
- Gateshead CRT, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust
- Newham Psychiatric Acute Community Team, East London NHS Foundation Trust
- East Berkshire CRHTT, Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust