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Showing results for tags 'Patient engagement'.
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Content Article
Patient Safety Commissioner initiatives
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in England
Patients need to be involved in all aspects of the design and delivery of healthcare and to make quality improvements that prevent harm. The Patient Safety Commissioner website shows examples of where working in partnership with patients and families, listening to patients’ voice and acting upon their concerns have made positive changes. -
Content ArticleDavid Lawson, who leads the Department of Health and Social Care medtech directorate, outlines how the medtech strategy will be implemented with patients.
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Content ArticleDr Kristin Harris, Research Fellow in the Department of Anaesthesia and Critical Care at Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway, discusses why patient safety patient involvement personally matters to her and talks about the tool she's currently working on, which are safety checklists specific to surgical patients.
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Content ArticleIn honour of World Health Organization World Patient Safety Day 2023, the Patient Safety Movement Foundation hosted a webinar dedicated to the theme of “Empowering Patients.”
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Content ArticlePatients’ perspectives and their active engagement are critical to make health systems safer and people-centred, and are key for co-designing health services and co-producing good health with healthcare professionals, and building trust in health systems. This report, which forms part of a series of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) papers on the economics of patient safety, looks (i) the economic impact of patient engagement for patient safety; (ii) the results of a pilot data collection to measure patient-reported experiences of safety and; (iii) the status of initiatives on patient engagement for patient safety taken in 21 countries, which responded to a snapshot survey.
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Content ArticleThe Institute of Global Health Innovation (IGHI), Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and NIHR North West London Patient Safety Research Collaboration hosted a virtual event to celebrate World Patient Safety Day, chaired by Professor Bryony Dean-Franklin. The event started with keynote speeches from Professor the Lord Ara Darzi, Co-Director of IGHI; Dr Henrietta Hughes, England’s Patient Safety Commissioner; and Rosie Bartel, patient advocate, emphasising the importance of hearing patient’s voices. This was followed by an excellent panel session on how clinicians, researchers, and patients and carers can work together to support patients and their families to feel safe and engage with their care. The event was co-designed with patient representatives from NIHR North West London Patient Safety Research Collaboration and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.
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Content ArticleIf the NHS doesn't fund the medical treatment you need in your area, or you are unhappy about where you are going to be treated on the NHS, you have the legal right to go elsewhere and still be treated by the NHS, even if it's outside your local NHS Trust area. In this short blog, patient Verite Reily Collins writes about the rights patients have to choose where they receive their care, and how this may help overcome barriers in access to treatment.
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Content ArticleChloe, 24, was at high risk for aortic dissection due to her genetic history. Despite presenting alarming symptoms at the A&E department, her condition was misdiagnosed. A subsequent call to the hospital resulted in no further action, and Chloe tragically died four days later. Investigations confirmed that the hospital’s lack of correct diagnosis was a missed opportunity that could have saved her life. In this article, the Aortic Dissection Charitable Trust looks at the case of Chloe, within a framework of four key themes set out by Patient Safety Learning for World Patient Safety Day 2023: Elevating the voice of patients and families. Shared decision-making at the point of care. Engaging patients when things go wrong. Engaging patients for system improvement.
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Content ArticleThe focus of this year's World Patient Safety Day is engaging patients in “recognition of the crucial role patients, families and caregivers play in the safety of healthcare”. In this Comment in the Lancet, Jane O'Hara and Carolyn Canfield outline how supporting patients and families to be partners in care safety is both a logical and moral imperative. That is, we need to do it for safer care, but we also should do it because safer care relies on relationships, reciprocal trust, and collaboration.
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News Article
NHS Scotland to improve patient safety through 'compassionate communication'
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A study conducted by NHS Education for Scotland and Health Improvement Scotland found patients felt safer by having someone listen to their experiences after adverse events. The findings were published in the BMJ and have been positively received by NHS boards across the country. Healthcare Improvement Scotland’s Donna Maclean said: “The compassionate communications training has seen an unprecedented uptake across NHS boards in Scotland, with the first two cohorts currently under way and evaluation taking place also.” Clear communication and a person-centred approach was seen as being central to helping those who have suffered from traumatic events. Researchers found many said their faith was restored in the healthcare system if staff showed compassion and active engagement. This approach is likely to enhance learning and lead to improvements in healthcare. Health boards were advised that long timelines can have a negative impact on the mental health of patients and their families. Rosanna from Glasgow, who was affected by an adverse event, said: “I believe this study and its findings are crucial to truly understanding patients and families going through adverse events. “Not only does the study capture exactly what needs to change, but it also highlights the elements that are most important to us: an apology and assurance that lessons will be learnt is all we really want. Read full story Source: The National, 30 May 2022 -
News Article
Leaders ‘pay lip service’ to public engagement, NHSE director says
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Health leaders ‘pay lip service’ to engaging with patients and "do not look like or live the lives of the people they are making decisions about", an NHS England director has said. Olivia Butterworth, NHSE’s deputy director of people and communities, told a public event hosted by the New Local think tank there is a “whole load of work” going on around reforming patient-reported outcome measures. But she said that “none” of this work “starts with conversations with people about what do they value and what they want to measure.” Asked whether NHS England’s top leadership is “paying lip service” to patient engagement, Ms Butterworth said: “I think often everybody pays lip service to it. We all use the right words. But whether it’s local government, whether it’s the NHS we know the words to use, but do we really live that in our actions in the way that we really like to change things? “Or do we just blame the system for being too complex and it is the system that won’t let us, without recognising that we are the system, we make the system, we run the system, the system is people.” Elsewhere in the session, Ms Butterworth said that “our decision makers do not look like or live the lives of the people they are making decisions about.” She added that health services need to “join up around people” and that integrated care systems and partnerships offer the opportunity to “cut the crap of the organisational boundaries that stopped us doing things”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 8 April 2022 -
News Article
Lifestyle changes saving thousands from diabetes
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Thousands of Britons have avoided being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes thanks to an NHS programme aimed at early intervention. The Diabetes Prevention Programme identifies people at risk of developing the condition and gives them a nine-month plan to change their lifestyles. Researchers at the University of Manchester found that the programme resulted in 18,000 fewer people in England being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes between 2018 and 2019 — a 7% reduction. It focuses on eating and exercise habits and enables participants to join peer support groups and receive instruction from health coaches. The programme also offers a digital service that helps participants monitor their progress using wearable technology and mobile phone apps. Emma McManus, a research fellow at the university, said that diabetes was a “growing problem” for the country. The NHS spends about 10 per cent of its annual budget on treating it. “However, if you change your lifestyle, the risk of developing type 2 diabetes reduces,” she said. “Our research has shown that the programme has been successful in reducing the number of new cases of diabetes.” Emma Elvin, a senior clinical adviser at Diabetes UK, said: “This research adds to the evidence that many type 2 diabetes cases can be delayed or prevented with the right support and further highlights how the NHS diabetes prevention programme can be a real turning point for people at risk of type 2 diabetes.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 28 March 2022 -
News ArticleThe mother of Martha Mills, whose preventable death in hospital has led to calls for extra patients' rights, has said she is to meet the health secretary to discuss "Martha's Rule". If introduced, it would give families a statutory right to get a second opinion if they have concerns about care. Merope Mills said patients needed more clarity and to feel empowered. Her daughter, Martha, died two years ago after failures in treating her sepsis at King's College Hospital. She had entered hospital with an injury to her pancreas after falling off her bike. The injury was serious but should never have been fatal. Within days she had died of sepsis. In an interview on Radio 4's Today programme, Mrs Mills said she had raised concerns but doctors told her the extensive bleeding was "a normal side-effect of the infection, that her clotting abilities were slightly off". The King's College Hospital Trust said it remained "deeply sorry that we failed Martha when she needed us most" and her parents should have been listened to. Read full story Source: BBC News, 12 September 2023
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News Article
NHS ombudsman calls for Martha's rule to give power to patients
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Top boss of NHS complaints in England has told the BBC he wants Martha's rule to be introduced to give patients the power to get an automatic second medical opinion about hospital care, when they think things are going wrong. Rob Behrens said he had been moved by the plea of Merope Mills, who shared the story of her daughter's death. Martha was 13 when she died from sepsis. Merope Mills wants hospitals around the country to bring in Martha's rule, which would give parents, carers and patients the right to call for an urgent second clinical opinion from other experts at the same hospital, if they have concerns about their current care. It is something that Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman Rob Behrens fully supports. He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Along with many others, I was moved and in great admiration for what Merope has said and done and I give unambiguous support. "Unfortunately, as tragic as this case is, it's not the first and there have been many cases where patients have been failed by their doctors because they haven't been listened to." Read full story Source: BBC News, 5 September 2023 -
News Article
Drug firms funding UK patient groups that lobby for NHS approval of medicines
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Drug companies are systematically funding grassroots patient groups that lobby the NHS medicines watchdog to approve the rollout of their drugs, the Observer has revealed. An investigation by the Observer has found that of 173 drug appraisals conducted by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) since April 2021, 138 involved patient groups that had a financial link to the maker of the drug being assessed, or have since received funding. Often, the financial interests were not clearly disclosed in NICE transparency documents. Many of the groups that received the payments went on to make impassioned pleas to England’s medicines watchdog calling for treatments to be approved for diseases and illnesses including cancer, heart disease, migraine and diabetes. Others made submissions appealing NICE decisions when medicines were refused for being too expensive. In one case, a small heart failure charity that gave evidence to a NICE committee arguing for a drug to be approved received £200,000 from the pharmaceutical company, according to the maker’s spending records. In another case, a cancer patient group supplied evidence relating to drugs made by 10 companies – from nine of which it had received funding. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 22 July 2023 -
News ArticleA new six-year study, which aims to prevent the ‘silencing’ of patient voices and improve patient trust in the healthcare system, is due to begin thanks to a major funding award Researchers at the University of Nottingham, University of Bristol and University of Birmingham have received a £2.6M Wellcome Discovery Grant for the 'Epistemic Injustice in Healthcare (EPIC)’ project. The study will use philosophical expertise to explore forms of 'silencing'. Patients regularly report that their testimonies and perspectives are ignored, dismissed or explained away by the healthcare profession. These experiences are injustices because they are unfair and harmful - and philosophers call them ‘epistemic injustices’ because they jeopardise patient care and undermine trust in healthcare staff and systems. By studying these epistemic injustices, EPIC will find ways to correct them and improve the relationship between patients and healthcare practitioners. "Patients have long reported feeling ignored, dismissed, or silenced in ways that jeopardise their care and intensify their suffering. The challenge is to understand how this silencing happens and what can be done about it, in ways that can help patients and healthcare practitioners alike. The NHS is right to seek 'patient perspectives' and listen to 'patient voices'. Project EPIC will help them to do that better by fully diagnosing the causes of that silencing." Dr Ian James Kidd, EPIC Co-Investigator & Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy. Read more Source: University of Nottingham
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News ArticlePeople no longer believe the NHS will treat them quickly if they fall ill, according to new polling showing wide dissatisfaction about the state of the health service. With hundreds of ambulances stacked outside overstretched A&E departments and patients languishing on record waiting lists, voters are far more likely to say the service has worsened than improved in the last year. Fifty-eight per cent are not confident they would receive timely treatment from the NHS if they fell ill tomorrow, with 36 per cent not confident at all and 22 per cent just not confident. Meanwhile, 45 per cent believe the service they receive has worsened in the past 12 months. Just over half think it has become harder to get an appointment with their local doctor while 41 per cent think their local GP service has worsened. Robert Ede, head of health and social care at the Policy Exchange think tank, said: “It is concerning to see that a majority of the public don’t believe they would receive timely treatment from the NHS if they became ill tomorrow. There is a risk that the perception of a service in crisis beds in and actually leads to a complete erosion in public confidence." Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times (27 August 2022)
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News Article
New approach to safety incidents will see fewer investigations
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Major reforms have been set out on how NHS organisations should respond to patient safety incidents, which are aimed at ensuring better engagement with patients and families. The Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF), published today, replaces the serious incident framework and provides guidance to trusts on how and when they should conduct investigations. According to NHSE, a key aim is to allow trusts to focus resources on where investigations will have the greatest impact, rather than investigating all incidents as they did under the old framework. NHSE said the more flexible approach should make it easier to address concerns specific to health inequalities, as incidents can be learnt from that would not have met the serious incident definition. However, it does not affect the need for a patient safety incident investigation following a never event’ or maternity incident; this is still required. Helen Hughes, chief executive of charity Patient Safety Learning, said the new framework “places an emphasis on individual organisations assessing their patient safety risks”, and provided a “welcome acknowledgement of the importance of engaging patients and families as part of the investigation process”. However, she said there would need to be a “significant training programme for staff in a range of human factors informed approaches”, to ensure reviews lead to safety improvements. She added: “What is being proposed is a complex innovation in the NHS’s approach to incident investigation. Its success to a large part will depend on having the right organisational leadership and resources to support this transition. [NHSE has] now provided a set of tools and a timetable for this. However, ultimately this initiative should be judged on its implementation and effectiveness in reducing avoidable harm.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 16 August 202 -
News Article
Dr Penny Kechagioglou on digitising patient reported outcome measures
Clive Flashman posted a news article in News
Dr Penny Kechagioglou, Chief Clinical Information Officer and Deputy Chief Medical Officer at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire, kindly shared her thoughts on digitising patient reported outcome measures in a blog for HTN. The UK digital transformation wave is mainly characterised by the roll-out of electronic health records and is an opportunity to transform patient care by collecting and analysing patient reported outcome measures digitally. A recent study at the European Society of Medical Oncology open journal (Modi, 2022) showed that patient reported outcome measures are predictive of cancer patient treatment response and quality of life for physical and mental parameters. The knowledge of patient reported outcomes (PRO) and experience (PRE) measures can be valuable in the monitoring of individual patient symptoms in clinic or remotely in the community and also for aggregating and interpreting population health data. To read the full article, click here -
News Article
NHS ‘must show patients more respect’
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The NHS must be more welcoming to patients who often feel they should not bother doctors, the new patient safety commissioner for England has urged. Dr Henrietta Hughes, who takes up the role this week, said it was vital that patients had time to ask questions, despite pressures on the health service. Clinicians and managers need to put themselves in the shoes of their patients, she said, highlighting “highly inappropriate” interactions between doctors and patients that showed “a total lack of care and respect”. Hughes said it was not a surprise that all the groups affected in the Cumberlege report were women. “That’s something which is a societal problem, and it’s really important that the voices of all patients, including those of women, are listened to and taken really seriously,” she said. “Because otherwise untold harm happens and it can not only extend to the individual patient themselves, but to their families, to their children, to their livelihoods. This role is a real opportunity for championing patients’ voices, and also making sure those who are in charge who are able to make the changes, listen and respond appropriately." Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 14 July 2022 -
News Article
Patients' champion 'won't speak to patients'
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Patients will not be able to directly contact Scotland’s new Patient Safety Commissioner under the role’s proposed remit, according to the Sunday Post. Officials drawing up the job description for the position are proposing patients with concerns and complaints should go through their local health boards instead of dealing directly with the commissioner. Last week, Henrietta Hughes was named as the government’s preferred candidate for the role of Patient Safety Commissioner in England. In that role, Hughes will be able to be directly contacted by the public. Despite being the first UK country to announce the intention to appoint a commissioner two years ago the role in Scotland is not yet filled. The decision not to allow patients to directly contact the commissioner in Scotland has been criticised by Baroness Julia Cumberlege, author of the report, First Do No Harm. She said: “Of course, patients must be able to communicate directly with the commissioner and their office. In our review we said the healthcare system is not good enough at spotting trends in practice and outcomes that give rise to safety concerns. Listening to patients is pivotal to that. “This is why one of our principal recommendations was the appointment of an independent Patient Safety Commissioner, a person of standing who sits outside the healthcare system, accountable to parliament through the Health and Social Care Select Committee." Read full story Source: The Sunday Post, 26 June 2022 -
News ArticlePatients in England are set to benefit from a radical new project that will look to identify innovative new methods of preventing cardiovascular disease, as the Department of Health and Social Care appoints the first ever Government Champion for Personalised Prevention. John Deanfield CBE, a Professor of Cardiology at University College London, has been asked by the health secretary to explore how the potential of technology and data can be properly harnessed to allow people to better look after their health and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Professor Deanfield will spearhead a taskforce comprised of experts in everything from policy and technology to economics and behavioural science to deliver a range of recommendations that will lay the foundations for a modern, tailored cardiovascular disease prevention service. The Government say the recommendations will: Identify breakthroughs in predicting, preventing, diagnosing and treating risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Advise on how public services, businesses and the population can be encouraged to support prevention outside the NHS. Use personalised data to predict and manage disease more effectively. Bring care closer to homes and communities by establishing new partnerships that advance the way preventative services are delivered. Evaluate how this strategy for cardiovascular disease prevention may impact conditions with shared risk factors. Read full story Source: NHE, 7 March 2023
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News Article
Patient Safety Commissioner: 'We are heading straight back to Mid Staffs'
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A seismic shift is needed in the way that patients’ and families’ voices are heard, with shared decision-making and patient partnership as the destination, says Patient Safety Commissioner, Dr Henrietta Hughes, on the day the Patient Safety Commissioner 100 Days Report is published. In the report, Henrietta reflects on her first 100 days in this new role. She sets out what she has heard, what she has done and her priorities for the year ahead. "Everyone... has a part to play in delivering safe care – know that you can make a difference by putting safety at the top of your agenda. Introduce patient voices into your governance – in your board meetings, commissioning and contracts meetings, design of strategies, policies and processes, team meeting agendas, annual objectives, appraisals, reviews of complaints and incidents, inspections, and reward and recognition. "I want us to be able to look back in astonishment on the way that we operate now. This is the moment to set a new course with shared decision-making and patient partnership as our destination. Without listening and acting on patient voices, safety will continue to be compromised and patients and families will continue to suffer the consequences of harm." Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 2 February 2023 -
News Article
Social Beats networking platform supports people with Long Covid
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Social Beats, a networking platform for those living with Long Covid, has been launched by free social community service Biocomm, allowing people to exchange health information from trusted sources, share experiences and interact with other people with Long Covid. The goal of the platform is to help connect those living with Long Covid so that they can receive and provide emotional and social support to others in the same position. The platform is the brainchild of BiocommAI and is sponsored by InnoMedica and Normax Biomed. Peter Jensen, CEO and chairman of Normax, said: “Community is key for anyone dealing with an illness or long-term condition. Biocomm.net is a safe space for people affected by Long Covid – a platform designed to help people living with the condition to connect with others and to build a better life. “We have recognised that Long Covid has impacted people in many ways and now is the time to help them by enabling them to connect, learn and share knowledge.” Read full story Source: Digital Health, 22 May 2023 -
News Article
Watchdog hits out at DHSC ‘ambiguity and delay’
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The national patient safety commissioner has hit out at government for failing to confirm her budget a month into the financial year, warning that she is ‘incredibly limited’ in what she can achieve. In an strongly worded letter released today, Henrietta Hughes states: “Despite it now being the end of April the Department has still not provided me with a budget for this financial year.” She added: “This ambiguity and delay is impacting on my ability to arrange patient engagement events as these require a budget”. It appears to be an almost unprecedented public intervention from an official who is appointed and hosted by the DHSC. In the letter to Commons Health and Social Care Committee chair Steve Brine, she also says she does not have enough resources to fulfil the role, and is only able to employ four members of staff. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 3 May 2023
