The launch of the national early warning score (NEWS) for adults this week by the Royal College of Physicians has been welcomed by doctors in acute medicine who are urging hospitals to embrace the system.1 2

The NEWS is the first national system for scoring acutely ill patients in the world. It has been developed by the Royal College of Physicians after detailed analysis of many of the hundreds of early warning scoring scores currently used in the NHS, including a systematic review3 and consultation with clinicians and nurses. It has the potential to dramatically improve clinical outcomes by recognising rapidly deteriorating patients and triggering an appropriate response, says the college.

Speaking at the launch of NEWS at a press conference in London Bryan Williams, chair of the working party behind the system and professor of medicine at University …