{"id":2354,"date":"2026-03-17T07:00:34","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T07:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/spcare\/?p=2354"},"modified":"2026-03-16T14:23:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T14:23:54","slug":"qr-code-wristbands-for-critical-information-sharing-in-palliative-care-a-review-at-6-months","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/spcare\/2026\/03\/17\/qr-code-wristbands-for-critical-information-sharing-in-palliative-care-a-review-at-6-months\/","title":{"rendered":"QR-code wristbands for critical information sharing in palliative care, a review at 6-months"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr Elin Harding, Dr Alice Crabtree, Dr Caitlin Cahill, Dr Stephanie Sivell and Professor Nikki Pease\u00a0<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

(Velindre University NHS Trust, Cardiff University and Marie Curie Research Centre)<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Image 1: QR-Code Cymru Team \u2013 Left-Right Mr Ed O’Brian (WAST EOL lead, Professor Nikki Pease, Dr Elin Harding, Dr Alice Crabtree<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Background:<\/b><\/p>\n

It is well documented that patients in the last year of life will interact with, and be transferred between, several care settings requiring input from primary, secondary and unscheduled care via 999 emergency services (1). However, a significant \u2018information gap\u2019 exists between services (1). Annually, up to 9% of Welsh Ambulance Service Trust (WAST) emergency calls involve palliative patients (2). Often paramedics or out of hours (OOH) GPs make decisions regarding patient care and place of care with limited information. Comprehensive care plans – including patient preferences, statements of wishes, and DNACPR documentation \u2013 are often not readily available to oncology or palliative care teams to support clinical decision-making.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the past 3 years, in partnership with WAST, Cardiff and Vale University Health board Supportive Care Team, and more recently the Velindre Patient and Carer Partnership Board, we have developed an innovative and reliable way to get the <\/span>right<\/b> information, to the <\/span>right<\/b> healthcare professional, to make the <\/span>right<\/b> decision.<\/span><\/p>\n

We have successfully piloted a patient worn, QR-code wristband which holds critical information to inform decision making (3). Each stage of the QR-code Cymru project has been published (3, 4, 5). We now present outcomes 6-months on from enrolling patients onto the feasibility study.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Image 2: Picture of example wristband linked to ‘test’ patient website. Feel free to scan this and enter the pin number in image 3 \u2013 test patient site with no confidential information.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Image 4: (below) Screenshot of example ‘test’ patient website.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Method:<\/b>
\n<\/b>Patients enrolled within the feasibility study were telephoned by the project team (3). The purpose of the follow-up calls were to check patient satisfaction with the information held on the QR-code platform and make any necessary updates (e.g. changes to emergency contact or clinical information).\u00a0 Furthermore, this also provided the opportunity to identify patients who were not wearing the wristband, allowing them to remove their information, deactivate the website platform and return the wristband, if they wished.<\/span><\/p>\n

Results:<\/b><\/p>\n

Of the 28 patients enrolled in the feasibility study (3), 61% (n=17) had died by the 6-month review point, with a median survival of 81 days (range 10-246).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Of the remaining 11 patients with ‘active’ wristbands:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n