The phone numbers used to call a hospital's emergency care team should be standardised across all NHS acute trusts in England and Wales, Lord Hunt, chairman of the National Patient Safety Association, said at the association's conference this week.
Lord Hunt has advised NHS hospitals to use the number 2222 in future, after the association found that at least 27 different “crash call” numbers are currently in use in England and Wales.
The health minister Lord Warner said: “This is another step in the right direction towards improving the quality of care patients receive. Having one number to summon emergency care will minimise confusion for staff and mean that patients get the treatment they need, fast. It is part of a wider drive to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy on the front line so that staff can get on with the job of caring for patients.”
The initiative has received wide support from professional organisations.
“Many NHS staff, particularly junior doctors, frequently move between hospitals,” said Simon Eccles, chairman of the BMA's Junior Doctors Committee. “Standardising the crash call number is a commonsense measure that will improve patient safety.”
John Hayworth, chairman of the British Association for Accident and Emergency Medicine and a consultant at Southampton General Hospital, welcomed the initiative. “The idea of having different numbers in different hospitals seems to be nonsense. Many staff, including doctors, nurses, and other health professionals, move from hospital to hospital; so having a standard number, which would alert the crash team, is a welcome and indeed overdue move,” he said.
The National Patient Safety Association estimates that the average cost for trusts of converting to 2222 will be £5200 ($9700; €7730). This includes changes to switchboard technology and informing staff of the change through training, new signs, and emergency directories.