ReviewInternal and emergency medicine2023
The United Kingdom's National Early Warning Score: should everyone use it? A narrative review.
Review in Internal and emergency medicine, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Is age associated with different vital signs in adults presenting to hospital with bacterial infection? A systematic review and meta-analysis.Age and ageing · 2025Pooled it
- Investigating the Predictive Power of the National Early Warning Score in Predicting Outcomes Among Intensive Care Unit Patients.Critical care research and practice · 2026Article
- The predictive performance of NEWS, MEWS, SOFA and SAPS II in outcomes of bacteremic and non-bacteremic sepsis.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Observational
- [Early warning scores: implementation, challenges and solutions within the initiative of quality in medicine].Medizinische Klinik, Intensivmedizin und Notfallmedizin · 2025Article
- Characteristics of a revised quick sequential organ failure assessment score (RqSOFA) to predict in-hospital mortality of patients visiting the emergency department via ambulance: an observational cohort study.Internal and emergency medicine · 2025Observational
- Diagnostic utility of sepsis screening tools, procalcitonin, and C-reactive protein in nosocomial fever of unknown origin.World journal of critical care medicine · 2025Article
- Development and Validation of a NEWS2-Enhanced Multivariable Prediction Model for Clinical Deterioration and In-Hospital Mortality in Hospitalized Adults.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Article
- Predicting patient deterioration with physiological data using AI: systematic review protocol.BMJ health & care informatics · 2025Article
- Improving the Predictive Accuracy of the National Early Warning Score 2: Protocol for Algorithm Refinement.JMIR research protocols · 2025Article
- [Early warning scores: a rapid umbrella review].Medizinische Klinik, Intensivmedizin und Notfallmedizin · 2025Review
- A single early warning signs (SEWS) system for recognizing clinically deterioration outperforms the national early warning score (NEWS) by having a lower activation threshold, broader clinical scope, and faster response time.Resuscitation plus · 2025Article
- Prospective external validation of a deep-learning-based early-warning system for major adverse events in general wards in South Korea.Acute and critical care · 2025Article
- Improving respiratory rate monitoring in general wards following implementation of a rapid response system: a quality improvement initiative.BMJ open quality · 2025Article
- Modifications to the National Early Warning Score 2: a Scoping Review.BMC medicine · 2025Article
- Giving patients, families and staff a reliable voice in acute care: Expert guidance for implementation of Martha's Rule in UK hospitals.Future healthcare journal · 2025Article
- Exploring the impact of age on the predictive power of the National Early Warning score (NEWS) 2, and long-term prognosis among patients reviewed by a Rapid Response Team: A prospective, multi-centre study.Resuscitation plus · 2025Article
- Early warning systems for identifying severe maternal outcomes: findings from the WHO global maternal sepsis study.EClinicalMedicine · 2025Article
- Utilisation of the National Early Warning Score (NEWS) and Assessment of Patient Outcomes Following Cardiac Surgery.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Article
- Treatment and Care for Nursing Home Residents with COVID-19: A Qualitative Study.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2024Article
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2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
This review critiques the benefits and drawbacks of the United Kingdom's National Early Warning Score (NEWS). Potential developments for the future are considered, as well as the role for NEWS in an emergency department (ED). The ability of NEWS to predict death within 24 h has been well validated in multiple clinical settings. It provides a common language for the assessment of clinical severity and can be used to trigger clinical interventions. However, it should not be used as the only metric for risk stratification as its ability to predict mortality beyond 24 h is not reliable and greatly influenced by other factors. The main drawbacks of NEWS are that measuring it requires trained professionals, it is time consuming and prone to calculation error. NEWS is recommended for use in acute UK hospitals, where it is linked to an escalation policy that reflects postgraduate experience; patients with lower NEWS are first assessed by a junior clinician and those with higher scores by more senior staff. This policy was based on expert opinion that did not consider workload implications. Nevertheless, its implementation has been shown to improve the efficient recording of vital signs. How and who should respond to different NEWS levels is uncertain and may vary according to the clinical setting and resources available. In the ED, simple triage scores which are quicker and easier to use may be more appropriate determinants of acuity. However, any alternative to NEWS should be easier and cheaper to use and provide evidence of outcome improvement.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.