Bupa New Zealand is rolling out a digital tool to help aged care employees consistently identify and respond to early signs of health deterioration in residents.
The tool is based on the Deterioration Early Warning System (DEWS), which was trialled at Bupa’s Northhaven Care Home during a feasibility study conducted in partnership with the Te Tāhū Hauora Health Quality & Safety Commission and the University of Auckland.
“DEWS helps us spot subtle health issues early, so we can take action sooner to help prevent serious problems and support better outcomes for our residents.”
- Sandy Turnwald, Clinical and Quality Director at Bupa New Zealand.
Developed in New Zealand by Julie Daltrey, Aged Residential Care Clinical Lead at Te Tāhū Hauora Health Quality & Safety Commission, and Dr Michal Boyd, Honorary Associate Professor at the University of Auckland, DEWS enables caregivers and nurses to recognise small but significant changes in a resident’s health - such as increased fatigue or reduced appetite, before more serious symptoms appear.
“Caregivers often notice when something isn’t quite right. This evidence-based system gives structure to those observations and automatically escalates concerns to the Registered Nurse to take action,” says Turnwald.
DEWS consists of three tools:
- Quick-DEWS: Caregivers answer nine questions about each resident each shift. If changes are noted, the concern is escalated to the registered nurse (RN).
- RN-DEWS: The RN conducts a full clinical assessment, generating a score and checklist to guide next steps, such as closer monitoring or contacting a doctor or nurse practitioner.
- SBARR-DEWS: communication and critical thinking tool to standardise handover to primary or secondary care.
Northhaven was one of five New Zealand aged care homes that tested the paper version of DEWS, which showed improved health outcomes for residents. Based on the results, Bupa decided to roll out the system to all 40 of its care homes and integrate it into its electronic resident management system, enhancing usability, consistency and visibility across care teams.
Bupa is also convening a working group with two other aged care providers using the VCare management system. Together, with VCare, they are building and testing the digital version of DEWS which is expected to be available to all VCare users by the end of the year.
To support the sector wide rollout, Te Tāhū Hauora Health Quality & Safety Commission is developing supporting resources, including online training, with more information to be shared with the aged care sector in the next 2-3 months. If any ARC facilities are interested in implementing DEWS, please contact DEWS@hqsc.govt.nz for more information.
“This is a New Zealand-made tool that improves care for older people,” says Turnwald. “We’re working to making easy to use and accessible to others.”
