NEWS2 Calculator
National Early Warning Score 2 - standardised assessment of acute illness severity based on Royal College of Physicians guidelines.
When to use NEWS2
NEWS2 should be used for all adult patients (16 years and over) admitted to hospital or being assessed in an acute setting. It is the standard tool recommended by NHS England for detecting and responding to clinical deterioration.
How to interpret the score
- 0: Low risk - continue routine monitoring
- 1-4: Low risk - nurse to assess and decide on monitoring frequency
- 3 in any single parameter: Low-medium risk - urgent ward-based doctor review
- 5-6: Medium risk - urgent response, assessment by clinician with acute care competencies
- 7+: High risk - emergency response, assessment by team with critical care competencies
Clinical context
NEWS2 uses Scale 1 for SpO2 by default. Scale 2 should be used for patients with confirmed hypercapnic respiratory failure (e.g. some COPD patients) with a prescribed target SpO2 of 88-92%. The score should always be interpreted in the context of the individual patient and their baseline observations. A single parameter score of 3 should trigger an urgent response even if the aggregate score is low.
Use this calculator within your clinical workflow
Browse the full calculator library or use these tools inside ClinicalAssist alongside AI-powered clinical decision support for NHS clinicians.