Emergency Laparotomy Collaborative

Who is the network for?

Staff from Yorkshire and Humber NHS trusts who care for adults who undergo an emergency laparotomy. This includes staff from Emergency Departments, radiology, anaesthetics and critical care, surgical medical, nursing and theatre teams, elderly medicine and audit teams.

Our network aims to:

• Support teams in their improvement journeys
• Use a collaborative approach to learn from teams’ failures and successes
• Improve the safety and quality of the care delivered to adults undergoing an emergency laparotomy within our region

When do we meet?

We held sharing and learning events twice a year. A steering group (comprising representatives from each Trust involved in the collaborative plus a trainee and nurse) met four times per year.

How the network started

The Yorkshire and Humber ELC network is based on the ELC that started in Kent Surrey Sussex, Wessex and the West of England. By using a care bundle, they decreased 30-day mortality and length of stay for patients undergoing an emergency laparotomy.

Our ELC was funded by the Yorkshire and Humber AHSN for two years (2018-2020). We aimed to support teams from participating acute Trusts in Yorkshire to achieve improvements in the outcomes of care for these high-risk patients. The network supported teams to share and learn from each other as well as support measurement and improvement.

*We are currently awaiting further funding to enable us to continue with this important project.*