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Showing results for tags 'Decision making'.
Found 327 results
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Content ArticleThe government has published a draft Mental Health Bill for pre-legislative scrutiny. The bill aims to modernise the Mental Health Act for the 21st century.
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Content ArticleShared decision making involves ensuring patients are able to contribute meaningfully to decisions about their care. Healthcare professionals ensure patients are informed of the options available to them and fully involve patients in making treatment decisions. This report by the Patients Association sets out the views of 1,416 healthcare professionals on shared decision making, expressed in an online survey in Spring 2022. Respondents included GPs, consultants, specialist nurses and practice nurses. The survey found that most healthcare professionals are positive about shared decision making, but feel their ability to practice it regularly is limited by the current situation in the NHS. Many said that lack of time, gaps in the workforce and large caseloads prevented them partnering with patients to make decisions about treatment and care together.
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Content ArticleFinding out a patient's perspective about their care and treatment is a key part of shared decision making, but healthcare professionals do not always proactively do this in practice. This scoping review in the journal Patient Education and Counselling explored the extent to which the personal perspectives of patients are drawn out by clinicians during a consultation, as part of a shared decision making process. It reviewed studies in five databases about shared decision making. The authors found that studies reported low levels of healthcare professionals eliciting patient perspectives, The majority of content healthcare professionals and patients discussed related to physical health, with social and psychological topics mostly unaddressed.
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Content ArticleJunior doctors can struggle with decision-making in emergency departments because they worry about “looking silly” in front of senior colleagues, a study has found. A team from the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) looked at missed or delayed diagnosis of conditions in A&E. They specifically examined cases of pulmonary embolism and focused on diagnostic decision-making using applied cognitive task analysis. Interviews with medical staff found a number of factors which were common among expert level doctors. These included being aware of life-threatening conditions and seeking to rule them out, being comfortable in expressing doubt and seeking out peers to challenge their diagnosis. Junior staff on the other hand often tried to fit symptoms to specific conditions and had a fear of making wrong a diagnosis. Some said they were afraid of “looking silly in front of a senior”. The study, presented at an online session at the Ergonomics & Human Factors 2022 conference, suggested looking at how younger staff can be supported in improving their decision-making. HSIB investigator Nick Woodier, who presented the study, said: “Decision-making is a skill, commonly developed in healthcare through experience without formal training or opportunities to practise it.” You can view the presentation from the link below.
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Content ArticleIn this article for The Guardian, Dr Kara Thompson, an obstetrician and gynaecologist working in the public hospital system in Geelong and Melbourne, Australia, argues that women must be given clear and unbiased information in order to make informed decisions about their birth preferences. She highlights the case of an information brochure about caesarean birth published on the website of a hospital in New South Wales, which presented incorrect claims about the relative risks presented by vaginal and caesarean birth. She outlines how the leaflet indicates that the way women are informed about birth choices is still subject to fear-mongering and shaming, and highlights the need for healthcare workers to respect maternal choice and autonomy.
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Content ArticleShared decision making and regular communication throughout a patient’s surgery pathway would, a recent HSJ webinar argued, help the NHS move from the concept of waiting lists to one of preparation lists – and to a better way of dealing with the backlog. Claire Read reports.
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Content ArticleThis tool is easy to use and will help you better understand your own risks and benefits of having hip or knee joint replacement surgery. It has been designed using the National Joint Registry (NJR) information from people just like you who have chosen to have their procedure outcome details recorded on the registry. You may wish to take a printout of your results to use in your medical consultation.
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Content ArticleThe Accessible Information Standard is a set of principles for the presenting, sharing and discussing information with patients. It aims to make sure that people who have a disability, impairment or sensory loss get information that they can access and understand, and any communication support that they need from health and care services.
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Content ArticleiSupport are an international group of health professionals, academics, young people, parents, child rights specialists, psychologists and youth workers who are all passionate about the health and wellbeing of children, especially when they interact with healthcare services. The group is made up of over 50 members from around the world. iSupport have been working together throughout 2021 to develop standards for children and young people (aged 0-18 years) undergoing clinical procedures, based on internationally agreed children’s rights set out by the UNCRC (1989). The standards aim to ensure that the short and long-term physical, emotional and psychological well-being of children and young people are of central importance in any decision-making for procedures or procedural practice. The standards have been developed through ongoing and extensive consultation within the collaborative group and with established youth and parent forums. iSupport have also sought wider feedback, input and consensus through an international online survey.
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Content ArticleA locally engaged health service can lead to a more open, dynamic and pluralist model of NHS governance and accountability. In weighing up the hopes for better integration and collaboration against concerns around operational pressures, Matthew Taylor, Chief executive of the NHS Confederation, discusses the potential positive impact that local government can have in health service decision-making.
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Content Article
Hospitals are rejecting GP referrals for investigations and outpatient treatment at an increasing rate. In this blog, Patient Safety Learning looks at the patient safety issues caused by rejected referrals and lack of capacity in outpatient specialities. We call for the government and NHS leaders to investigate the problem and take action to mitigate risks to patient safety. -
Content ArticleIn this interview Keith Strahan, Clinical Informatics Lead of the Social Care Programme at NHS Digital, explains why 'About me’ information in records is so important. He describes the process of developing the About Me Standard, published by the Professional Records Standards Body (PRSB), alongside family members of people with disabilities and communication difficulties.
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EventuntilAt this Bevan Brittan webinar, Dr Bell, a Consultant in Intensive Care and Anaesthesia will cover the following: 1. Background on scenarios in which consideration is given to treatment limitations. 2. Factors influencing decision-making. 3. The evolution of conflict. 4. Clinical perspective on the role of the courts. Register
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Content ArticleWhat Matters to You? (WMTY) is an international person-centred care movement. It is based on the principle that healthcare workers should 'Ask, listen, do', in order to shift the power to the person who knows best about the help or support needed - whether that be the person with a medical issue or the clinicians providing care. WMTY conversations help healthcare teams understand what is “most important” to patients, leading to better care partnerships and improved patient experience. This website contains information about organisations involved in the movement as well as resources to help healthcare professionals and services implement WMTY.
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Content Article
An assurance case for COVID-19 (28 October 2021)
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Blogs
The iterative processes that engineers and technicians use to address problems could have been applied by decision-makers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic writes Rick Schrenker. -
Content ArticleThis video introduces the SingHealth Patient Advocacy Network (SPAN), a patient-led collaborative that encourages patients and caregivers to be actively involved in their care. SPAN is co-chaired by two patients and aims to rethink traditional models of care. The network wants to improve the quality and design of healthcare so that it encompasses the needs and desires of patients and their caregivers.
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Content ArticleSerious pathology as a cause of musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions is considered rare, but it needs to be managed either as an emergency or as urgent onward referral as directed by local pathways. This guidance supports primary and community care practitioners in recognising serious pathology which requires emergency or urgent referral to secondary care in a patient who present with new or worsening MSK symptoms.
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EventThis innovative educational initiative from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh was developed as a direct and constructive response to the communication inadequacies exposed by the Montgomery case, and subsequent legislation. While it is not difficult to give ‘more information’ it is harder for surgeons and patients to achieve a decision partnership. The ICONS workshop content has been informed by internationally recognised experts in Shared Decision Making, by consensus among senior practising surgeons, by patients and by professional experts in risk management and risk communication. Delegates on the ICONS workshops will acquire skills and knowledge to implement best practice in sharing the complex decisions surrounding informed consent. By participating in a workshop, they will also contribute to the development of resources for future training in the important area of informed consent. Register
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EventThis innovative educational initiative from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh was developed as a direct and constructive response to the communication inadequacies exposed by the Montgomery case, and subsequent legislation. While it is not difficult to give ‘more information’ it is harder for surgeons and patients to achieve a decision partnership. The ICONS workshop content has been informed by internationally recognised experts in Shared Decision Making, by consensus among senior practising surgeons, by patients and by professional experts in risk management and risk communication. Delegates on the ICONS workshops will acquire skills and knowledge to implement best practice in sharing the complex decisions surrounding informed consent. By participating in a workshop, they will also contribute to the development of resources for future training in the important area of informed consent. Register
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Content ArticleProviding high quality care and treatment for patients coming to the end of their lives is likely to involve making difficult and emotionally challenging decisions. This guidance from the General Medical Council provides a framework to support doctors in meeting the needs of each patient as they come towards the end of their life.
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Content ArticlePeople affected by health conditions bring insights and wisdom to transform healthcare – ‘jewels from the caves of suffering'. Yet traditional patient and public engagement relies on (child–parent) feedback or (adolescent–parent) ‘representative' approaches that fail to value this expertise and buffers patients' influence. This editorial from David Gilbert outlines the emergence of ‘patient leadership' and work in the Sussex Musculoskeletal Partnership, its patient director (the first such role in the National Health Service) and a group of patient/carer partners, who are becoming equal partners in decision-making helping to reframe problems, generate insight, shift dynamics and change practice within improvement and governance work.
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Content ArticleThis short animated video explores the issue of prioritising equality in shared decision making, to ensure that all patients' and family members' values are sought and incorporated in treatment decisions.
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Content ArticleThis investigation by the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) explores the timely recognition and treatment of suspected pulmonary embolism in emergency departments. Pulmonary embolisms can form when clots from the deep veins of the body, usually originating in the legs, travel through the venous system and become lodged in the lungs. A person suffering from a pulmonary embolism requires urgent treatment to reduce the chance of significant harm or death.
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Content ArticleSpeaking to patients about what matters to them helps healthcare teams understand individuals' priorities, leading to better care partnerships and improved patient experience. This toolkit developed by the Montefiore Medical Center in New York provides an outline of how to implement "what matters to you?" (WMTY) conversations in healthcare settings.
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Content ArticleThis article in the journal Health Affairs describes the three essential elements of shared decision making: Recognising and acknowledging that a decision is required Knowing and understanding the best available evidence Incorporating the patient's values and preferences into the decision. The authors argue that more physicians need training in the approach, systems need to be reorganised around the principles of patient engagement, and more research is needed to identify which interventions are most effective.
