Safe, Well organised, Inter-Facility Transfer (SWIFT) is a safety process and consists a 60 second bedside check conducted immediately prior to patient transfer. Undertaken by the Senior Doctor, Senior Nurse and QAS Officer where relevant, SWIFT requires consensus that the patient is safe for transport and ensures documentation is completed and up to date.
Safe, Well organised, Inter-Facility Transfer (SWIFT)
Summary
Aim
To provide a develop a simplified and consistent approach to help ensure patients are safe to transfer from an Emergency Department (ED) to other facilities.
Benefits
• senior medical and nursing staff ensure that patients are safe and ready to transfer at time of patient transfer
• ensures all documentation is current and ready to be transported with the patient
Background
SWIFT is led by Louise Welldon, Clinical Nurse Consultant and Dr Clare Kao, Emergency Physician from QEII Jubilee Hospital, Metro South Health. SWIFT was devised in response to an adverse event during an inter-hospital transfer. It was identified that clinical assessment of patients often occurs when transport is organised, which can be long before the actual transfer takes place. SWIFT fills this gap and is designed to be a non-onerous, multidisciplinary clinical check to ensure patient safety.