A consensus to determine the ideal critical care transfer bag.

Background: Familiarity with environment, processes and equipment reduces the risk inherently associated with critical care transfers. Therefore, the North West London Critical Care Network decided to create a standardised ideal transfer bag and contents to improve patient safety.

Methods: A four-round modified Delphi survey developed a condensed and clinically tested content list. An expert panel then designed an ideal transfer bag based on agreed important principles.

Results: Participants completed two rounds of an electronic survey. Round 3 comprised an expert clinical panel review, while round 4 tested the contents over 50 clinical transfers. The prototype bag's design was adjusted after clinical use and feedback.

Discussion: This project has introduced a standardised critical care transfer bag across our network. A similar technique could be used for other healthcare regions. Alternatively, the above critical care transfer bag could be adopted or adapted for regional use by clinicians.