Testing technology to enhance patient safety in seclusion
| Pages | 28-33 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JIDOB-09-2016-0016 |
| Date | 13 March 2017 |
| Published date | 13 March 2017 |
| Author | Paula Johnson,David J.W. Evans,Zulaikha Khan |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Learning & intellectual disabilities,Offending behaviour,Sociology,Sociology of crime & law,Deviant behaviour,Education,Special education/gifted education,Emotional/behavioural disorders |
Testing technology to enhance patient
safety in seclusion
Paula Johnson, David J.W. Evans and Zulaikha Khan
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to evaluate whether an example of Seclusion Room Contactless
Monitoring Technology (VitalGuard
TM
) is able to accurately detect the presence of life in a ward seclusion
room ensuring patient wellbeing, without interference from background “living noise”(e.g. voices) or
“electronic noise”(e.g. other systems).
Design/methodology/approach –The authors assessed the system’s ability to monitor movement caused
by human respiration through its ability to discriminate false positives (i.e. presence of an inanimate object ±
movement or noise, in the absence of a person in the seclusion room) and false negatives (i.e. failure to detect
a human presence) in a ward setting.
Findings –The system displayed 100 per cent validity in terms of determining false positives (six conditions,
each
n
¼5) and the system did not alarm under either of the two false negative conditions tested (each
n
¼5).
Research limitations/implications –These findings demonstrate that this example of technology is able to
monitor movement caused by human respiration and can accurately and reliably detect the presence of life in
seclusion rooms, in the ward setting, without interference from background noise (living and electronic).
This was a small evaluation study and further research on its effectiveness in practice would be beneficial in
both the intellectual disability forensic setting and other settings of segregation and isolation.
Originality/value –Thisstudy suggests that the use of technology in a seclusionroom setting can be usedas
a reliabletool to enhancepatient observationsand assist in thedelivery of care in a safeand unobtrusivemanner.
Keywords Innovation, Evaluation, Patient safety, Seclusion room, Technology testing,
Contactless monitoring
Paper type Conceptual paper
Introduction
This paper is written as a brief communication paper to introduce the concept of using contactless
telemonitoring technology to enhance the safety of patient monitoring while in seclusion. The paper
introduces one example of such monitoring VitalGuard
TM
(VitalGuard, Dublin, Ireland), and describes
some preliminary evaluation of the system in one seclusion room of a medium secure unit (MSU).
Seclusion rooms within secure services are used in instances where a service user, with or
without intellec tual disability, r equires supervis ed confinement due t o the risk; he poses to
himself or others dur ing a period of acute distr ess (NICE, 2015). It must be considered as th e
safest and most dignified intervention at that given time and should only be used as a last resort
where failure to seclude the individual may result in significant harm to patient, carer or peers
(Department of Health, 1983/2007; RCN, 2006; Nelstrop et al., 2006). In the UK, only people
detained under the Mental Health Act (1983/2007) should be considered for seclusion
(Department of Health, 2014) and whilst the use of seclusion and physical intervention in the
UK is relatively low compared with othe r European countries (Steinert et al., 2010), the use of
seclusion is in some cases unavoidable. Thus, there remains an essential and ongoing need to
constantly infor m and update seclusion policy and practice to facilitat e the health and safety of
seclusion settings and patients within them (Curran et al., 2005; Huf and Adams, 2012).
AreviewbyNelstropet al. (2006) suggested, there is insufficient empirical evidence to
determine whethe r seclusion is a safe and effectiv e means of managing disturbed be haviour in
Received 12 September 2016
Revised 8 November 2016
Accepted 8 November 2016
The authors would like to
acknowledge Dr Sally Linkenauger
(Lancaster University) and the
Lancaster Health Hub for their
support with this project. The pilot
of the VitalGuard
TM
unit was set up
as an agreement between
VitalGuard
TM
and the NHS Trust to
explore this patient safety
innovation. The study was funded
by the NHS Trust in terms of the
research department’s time to
undertake the testing. The Trust
has a working partnership
arrangement with the Lancaster
Health Hub in Lancaster University,
which facilitated the time donated
by Dr Sally Linkenauger to support
the Trust with the testing and
analysis of the data. There was no
external funding sought.
Paula Johnson is a Research
and Development Manager at
Mersey Care NHS Foundation
Trust, Whalley, UK.
David J.W. Evans is a Senior
Research Associate at
Lancaster Health Hub,
Faculty of Health and Medicine,
Lancaster University,
Lancaster, UK.
Zulaikha Khan is a Research
Assistant at Research and
Development, Mersey Care
NHS Foundation Trust,
Whalley, UK.
PAGE28
j
JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES AND OFFENDING BEHAVIOUR
j
VOL. 8 NO.1 2017, pp.28-33, © Emerald PublishingLimited, ISSN 2050-8824 DOI 10.1108/JIDOB-09-2016-0016
To continue reading
Request your trial