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Effectiveness of audit in improving interview room safety

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences, Royal Free and University College Medical School (Royal Free Campus), Rowland Hill Street, London NW3 2PF

Sylvia Tang, Specialist Registrar

Department of Psychiatry, Royal Free Hospital, London

AIMS AND METHODS

Safety features of rooms used for clinical interviews were assessed throughout our mental health unit. Following this pilot survey, 12 safety standards were agreed and adopted by a multi-disciplinary audit meeting. Recommendations were disseminated throughout the trust.

Adherence to the accepted standards for interview room safety was assessed at 6 months and 1 year after baseline. Following each assessment, results were presented so that the audit cycle was completed twice.

RESULTS

At 6 months 46 interview rooms were assessed against the 12 accepted standards and many were found to be unsatisfactory. After presentation of these results, the 1 year assessment discovered few changes in safety features of the 50 rooms now being used.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS

Unsafe rooms compromise the safety of staff and patients and this is clearly unacceptable. The audit process in itself failed as a method of improving standards.

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