To evaluate the appropriateness and acceptability of five standardised tools for shift-to-shift clinical handover (CH).

In July 2007, a pilot project was conducted in four Victorian public health services. Five standardised tools developed by the Victorian Quality Council were trialled at night medical handover: an organisational readiness checklist, a suggested organisational policy, a recommended organisational protocol, a CH template containing a minimum dataset to be collected, and a set of key performance indicators. Baseline and post-trial data and observational data were collected, and participating medical staff completed questionnaires before and after project implementation to gauge their opinions on the usefulness of the tools.

The tools considered most useful were the organisational readiness checklist, the suggested organisational policy, the protocol for CH, and the CH template. Using the number of medical emergency team calls and incident reports as key performance indicators was not considered appropriate.

The project highlighted that organisational support and commitment and stakeholder engagement and involvement are essential for implementing and sustaining changes in CH.