New National Early Warning Score could save 6,000 lives in the UK

A new working party report from the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) says there should be a national system for recognising very sick patients whose condition is deteriorating and who need more intensive medical or nursing care. The working party also developed and piloted a National Early Warning Score for this purpose, which if implemented across the NHS, would result in a step-change upwards in patient safety.
Visit the NEWS pages of the RCP website to download the report and resources.
Speaking at a press conference to launch the National Early Warning Score, Professor Bryan Williams, chair of the working party, estimated that 6,000 lives could be saved by its use.*
The report, National early warning score (NEWS); standardising the assessment of acute-illness severity in the NHS, was produced by a multidisciplinary working group including doctors, nurses and managers. Clinical observation charts and e-learning materials were also produced by the NEWS educational programme, a collaborative project funded by the RCP, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), the National Outreach Forum, and NHS Training for Innovation.
Each acute hospital bed has a chart that is used to record measurements such as the patient