Telephone Triage Toolkit for Children’s Cancer Services: A quality initiative

Purpose
Service development to improve patient safety and experience, and improve staff safety and confidence when managing telephone calls from parents or carers of children with cancer in the UK.

Method
A multi-layered mixed methods approach broadly based on sequential PDSA (plan, do, study, act) cycles, to a series of quality initiative projects spanning 14 years. Various project styles and methods are described.

Results
A Telephone Triage Toolkit for children's cancer services was piloted, reviewed and rolled out across the UK. Similarities were identified between adult and paediatric cancer services when identifying the case for need, enabling partnership working. A scheduled review completed in 2020 included new developments in cancer treatment, building on user experience, local audits and national feedback, leading to a 2nd edition being implemented.

Conclusions
Ground up, quality initiatives and collaborative working across organisations can be complex but draws on a wider pool of expertise and can lead to improved parent and staff experience of services. This initiative has improved practice and has application outside the UK.