The National Early Warning Score in practice: a reflection.

In 2012, The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) developed a National Early Warning Score (NEWS) as a standardised approach to assessment and response to critical illness. This paper reports the authors' experiences whilst implementing NEWS across one large inner London NHS Trust. NEWS was introduced to all adult areas between November 2013 and January 2014. All healthcare staff completed the RCP's online e-learning module and received scenario-based teaching. One of the challenges was the Trust's geographical location over three sites. Comparisons across all sites will be made over time as data become available. Introducing NEWS has been a challenging but exciting initiative.