Quality of Trauma Meeting Presentations Before and After Introduction of a Structured Template at a Major Trauma Centre: A Before-and-After Quality Improvement Study.

BACKGROUND

Morning trauma meetings are central to the daily trauma and orthopaedic workflow in major trauma centres. When case presentations are inconsistent, important clinical details may be missed, clarification questions increase, decision-making becomes less efficient, and documentation of management plans can vary. Structured presentation tools, including acronym-based templates embedded in digital systems, may improve reliability while still allowing clinicians to use judgement.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study is to evaluate whether introducing a structured trauma meeting presentation template improved the quality, completeness, and efficiency of case presentations at a major trauma centre.

METHODS

We conducted a single-centre before-and-after quality improvement study of consecutive trauma meeting case presentations between September 2025 and January 2026. A 10-domain, 20-point presentation quality score was developed using local governance priorities and published handover principles. Baseline presentations were observed before the intervention. A one-page structured template was then introduced, supported by brief induction teaching and display of the template in the trauma meeting room. The primary outcome was the mean presentation quality score. Secondary outcomes included domain-level completeness, number of clarification prompts, proportion of presentations with a documented management plan, and median presentation duration. Between-group comparisons were performed using the independent samples t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, chi-square test, or Fisher's exact test, as appropriate.

RESULTS

A total of 150 presentations were assessed, with 75 before and 75 after template implementation. The mean quality score increased from 11.6 ± 3.0 to 17.1 ± 2.1 out of 20, giving a mean difference of 5.5 points (95% CI: 4.7-6.3; p<0.001). Complete presentations, defined a priori as a score of 16 or above, increased from 18/75 (24.0%) to 61/75 (81.3%; p<0.001). Presentations with a documented management plan increased from 49/75 (65.3%) to 72/75 (96.0%; p<0.001), while task allocation increased from 28/75 (37.3%) to 67/75 (89.3%; p<0.001). Median clarification prompts per presentation decreased from 2 (IQR: 1-3) to 1 (IQR: 0-1; p<0.001). Median presentation duration was not significantly changed, decreasing slightly from 2.7 to 2.5 minutes (p=0.18).

CONCLUSION

Introducing a structured trauma meeting presentation template, expanded from an acronym within the electronic system, was associated with improved information completeness, clearer management planning, and fewer clarification prompts without prolonging meetings. These findings support structured, locally adapted templates as a low-cost intervention to improve the reliability of trauma meeting presentations in high-volume major trauma centres.