Clinical Handover Audit

This project audits whether clinical handovers reliably transfer the information needed for safe continuity of care. It reviews whether an agreed structured format or local template is used, whether clinical situation, background, risks, deterioration and escalation concerns are communicated, whether outstanding investigations, treatments, medicines tasks and critical alerts are handed over, and whether actions carry a clear priority, named owner, escalation plan, documented location and follow-up process.

• Doctors, nurses, pharmacists, ACPs/PAs and allied health professionals
• Ward leaders, site management, patient-flow and clinical operations teams
• Care-home, hospice and community team leads where handover is audited
• QI leads, governance teams and educators

• Measure whether handovers use an agreed structured format and cover the required clinical content
• Assess whether risks, deterioration and escalation concerns are reliably communicated
• Review whether outstanding tasks carry a clear priority, named owner and follow-up process
• Identify variation in handover quality across clinical areas, handover types and time periods
• Generate governance-ready and ARCP-ready evidence

• Anonymous handover or case identifier
• Inclusion / eligibility decision
• Anonymised handover context (time period, care setting, handover type, staff groups, volume handed over)
• Clinical area / location and optional specialty / service
• Sixteen clinical handover criteria (met / not met / not applicable)
• Free-text learning points and any project custom fields

• Live dashboard
• Audit report (Word)
• Executive summary (Word)
• Excel workbook
• PowerPoint presentation
• Conference poster
• ARCP evidence summary

This ready-built project is developed using the guidance, standards and authoritative sources listed below, so you can see what is being measured and why. Lazomis QI does not publish or own this guidance, and inclusion here does not imply endorsement or approval by any of these organisations.

• NICE

  QS174: Emergency and acute medical care in over 16s — structured patient handovers(opens the original source in a new tab)

  Quality statement supporting structured handover of patients in emergency and acute medical care.

• General Medical Council

  Good medical practice — working with colleagues and continuity of care(opens the original source in a new tab)

  Professional expectations for communication, continuity of care and responsibility at handover.

• NHS England / NHS Improvement

  Spoken communication and patient safety in the NHS(opens the original source in a new tab)

  Patient safety publication on structured spoken communication, including handover.

• NHS England

  Patient safety alert: risks arising from breakdown and failure to act on communication during handover at discharge from secondary care(opens the original source in a new tab)

  Suggested source requiring user review — confirm the current alert reference and local implementation.

• Designed to use anonymised or pseudonymised audit identifiers.
• This tool supports, but does not replace, clinical judgement.
• Local policy, formulary and specialist advice should be followed.
• Organisations remain responsible for local governance arrangements.
• This tool supports, but does not replace, clinical judgement. Follow local handover, escalation and information-governance policy.
• Handover structure, timing, attendance and documentation requirements remain locally configurable and are not national standards.
• Use anonymous handover identifiers only — never patient-identifiable information.

Supporting guidance from the Lazomis QI Resource Library. Authoritative clinical standards referenced by this project remain separate.

• Patient SafetyEscalation Failures: Understanding and Preventing Harm in Clinical PracticeEscalation failures are a significant contributor to avoidable harm in healthcare. This guide explores their root causes and outlines practical steps for NHS staff to improve communication, clinical handover, and timely senior review.
• Patient SafetyUnderstanding Human Factors for Enhanced Patient Safety in the NHSThis guide provides an introduction to human factors in healthcare, explaining their critical role in patient safety. It offers practical strategies for NHS staff to understand and apply human factors principles to reduce errors and improve care delivery.
• Clinical GovernanceLeveraging Incident Themes for Quality Improvement and Patient SafetyThis guide helps NHS teams identify and analyse recurring incident themes, transforming reported safety events into practical quality improvement opportunities to enhance patient safety and system reliability.
• Patient SafetyIntegrating Patient Safety and Quality Improvement: A Practical Guide for UK CliniciansThis guide explains the foundational principles of patient safety and quality improvement (QI) within the UK healthcare context, offering practical strategies for clinicians to enhance safety and improve care delivery.