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Showing results for tags 'Communication'.
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Content ArticleHow we talk about health is important, and even those with the best intentions don't always do it well. Krista Lamb is an author and science communicator in Toronto. For years she has helped scientists, physicians, advocates and others share their healthcare stories effectively. Along the way, some of them have taught her how we can and should talk about health in ways that are empathetic, understandable and accurate. In this podcast she asks those people to share their tips and tricks to help everyone communicate better.
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News Article
Data regulator issues new guidance for healthcare sector on transparency
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The UK’s data protection regulator has published new guidance for health and social care organisations it says will help them be more transparent about how personal information is being used. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said the new guidance would provide regulatory certainty to organisations on how they should keep people properly informed as technology is increasingly used to deliver care and carry out research. The regulator said focus on the issue was needed as the health and social care sector routinely handles sensitive information about the most intimate aspects of peoples’ health, and that under data protection law, people have a right to know what is happening to their personal information. Being transparent is essential to building public trust in health and social care services Anne Russell, head of regulatory policy projects at the ICO, said the ever-increasing use of technology meant personal data was more important than ever, and so therefore was more transparency. “Being transparent is essential to building public trust in health and social care services,” she said. “If people clearly understand how and why their personal information is being used, they are likely to feel empowered to share their health information to both access care and support initiatives such as medical research. “As new technologies are developed and deployed in the health sector, our personal information is becoming more important than ever to boost the efficiency and public benefit of these systems. “With this bespoke guidance, we want to support health and social care organisations by improving their understanding of effective transparency, ensuring that they are clear, open and honest with everyone whose personal information is being used.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 15 April 2024 -
Content ArticleThe Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is supporting health and social care organisations to ensure they are being transparent with people about how their personal information is being used. The UK data protection regulator has today published new guidance to provide regulatory certainty on how these organisations should keep people properly informed. The health and social care sectors routinely handle sensitive information about the most intimate aspects of someone’s health, which is provided in confidence to trusted practitioners. Under data protection law, people have a right to know what is happening to their personal information, which is particularly important when accessing vital services. The guidance will help organisations to understand the definition of transparency and assess appropriate levels of transparency, as well as providing practical steps to developing effective transparency information.
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Content Article
Endometriosis: A patient's journey (10 April 2024)
Patient-Safety-Learning posted an article in Women's health
This Medscape article tells the story of Josephine Vest, who was diagnosed with endometriosis aged 19. Now 30, she describes how her symptoms were dismissed and belittled by GPs and gynaecologists before she received a diagnosis a year after her symptoms began. With an average diagnostic delay approaching nine years across the UK, Josephine counts herself fortunate to have been diagnosed in this time frame. She goes on to describe the obstacles she faced in getting effective treatment and the suspicious attitudes healthcare staff displayed towards her. -
Content ArticleThis cohort study in JAMA Network Open explored whether the empathy displayed by doctors has an impact on the outcomes of patients with chronic pain. 1470 adults with chronic low back pain were included in the study, in which empathy was more strongly associated with favourable outcomes than nonpharmacological treatments, opioid therapy and lumbar spine surgery. The findings suggest that empathy is an important aspect of the patient-doctor relationship and is associated with better outcomes among patients with chronic pain.
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Content Article
Parkinson’s is the fastest growing neurological condition in the world. It can affect young or old, and in the UK, around 145,000 people are living with the condition. With population growth and ageing, this figure is estimated to increase by 20%, within the next ten years. At the moment, there is no cure for Parkinson’s, but medication plays a vital role in managing symptoms and preventing deterioration. People with Parkinson’s face a number of specific patient safety issues when accessing healthcare including communication difficulties and risks associated with medication delays. In this blog, Patient Safety Learning has pulled together 11 useful resources about Parkinson’s shared on the hub. They include guidance for patients and their families about hospital stays and medication, and awareness-raising resources for healthcare professionals about the patient safety issues people with Parkinson’s face. -
News Article
Plans for Royal Mail delivery cuts could risk patient safety, NHS leaders warn
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
NHS leaders have warned that Royal Mail’s plans to cut second-class deliveries to two days a week could risk patient safety. The changes are part of wider measures announced by Royal Mail’s parent company, International Distributions Services (IDS), including cuts of up to 9,000 routes, which could take more than two years to implement, saving £300m a year. IDS has assured the Royal Mail workforce that there will be no compulsory redundancies and they will request only 100 voluntary redundancies. In a letter sent to the Telegraph, executives from the NHS, Healthwatch England, the Patients Association and National Voices said the Royal Mail proposals would increase the cost of missed appointments, which already exceeds £1bn. The letter said: “Provisional Healthwatch data suggest that more than 2 million people may have missed medical appointments in 2022-23 due to late delivery of letters, and this will only deteriorate under the proposed new plans.” Sir Julian Hartley, the chief executive of NHS Providers, said the proposed delays were “extremely unhelpful”. “It’s really important that patients be updated at the earliest opportunity on developments in their care and treatment,” he said. “An efficient, punctual postal service remains a key part of that process. At a time when far too many patients already face long delays – the last thing any trust leader wants – anything that adds to that uncertainty, and possibly the worsening of conditions, would be extremely unhelpful.” Jacob Lant, the chief executive of health charity National Voices, said: “The proposals being consulted on risk further delaying vital communications and worsening digital exclusion, therefore unfairly widening health inequalities. NHS mail must remain a priority service.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 6 April 2024 -
Content Article
In this opinion piece, Partha Kar describes patient safety issues relating to a planned increase in the number of Physician Associates (PAs) working in the NHS in England. Highlighting safety concerns being raised by healthcare professionals and members of the public, he calls for a pause to the planned expansion to allow these issues to be investigated. He outlines the need for a clear scope of practice, standardised training, full regulation and clear communication with all stakeholders, including the public.- Posted
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Content ArticleWhile climate change is a big threat to health, implementing solutions to address climate change presents a huge opportunity to promote better health and protect people from climate-sensitive diseases. Communicating the health risks of climate change and the health benefits of climate solutions is both necessary and helpful. Health professionals are well-placed to play a unique role in helping their communities understand climate change, protect themselves, and realize the health benefits of climate solutions. This toolkit from the World Health Organization (WHO) aims to help health professionals effectively communicate about climate change and health.
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News Article
WHO launches new toolkit empowering health professionals to tackle climate change
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Climate change presents one of the most significant global health challenges and is already negatively affecting communities worldwide. Communicating the health risks of climate change and the health benefits of climate solutions is both necessary and helpful. To support this, the World Health Organization (WHO) in collaboration with partners has developed a new toolkit designed to equip health and care workers with the knowledge and confidence to effectively communicate about climate change and health. The toolkit aims to fill the gaps in knowledge and action among health and care workers – all those who are engaged in actions with the primary intent of enhancing health, as well as those occupations in academic, management and scientific roles. Despite their recognized trustworthiness and efficacy as health communicators, many health and care workers might not be fully equipped to discuss climate change and its health implications. This toolkit seeks to change that narrative. “Health and care workers play a key role in addressing climate change as a health crisis. Their unique position enables them to raise awareness, advocate for policy changes, and empower communities to mitigate and adapt to climate change,” said Dr Maria Neira, Director, Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health. “By engaging in dialogue and action, health and care workers can catalyse efforts to safeguard human health as well as ensuring a resilient and sustainable future for all.” Read full story Source: WHO, 22 March 2024 -
Content ArticleWhen Adam Luck’s mother, Ann, was admitted to hospital with a suspected stroke, it was the beginning of a distressing seven-week stay. The previously cheerful 82-year-old became stuck in a dysfunctional health system. Her story is presented here via her son Adam’s diary of her hospitalisation.
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Content ArticleLetter Patient Safety Commissioner, Henrietta Hughes, wrote to Amanda Pritchard, NHS England, on the implementation of Martha's Rule.
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Content ArticleThis systematic review in JAMA Network Open explored how much shared decision-making (SDM) is used in interventions aimed at improving cardiovascular risk management, and how it affects decisional outcomes, cardiovascular risk factors and health behaviours. The review looked at 57 randomised clinical trials that included 88,578 patients on SDM interventions for cardiovascular risk management and 1341 clinicians, SDM interventions were associated with a slight decrease in decisional conflict and an improvement in haemoglobin A1c levels.
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EventuntilThe Patient Information Forum (PIF) is hosting a new two-day workshop offering key data on health literacy and digital exclusion, plus top tips and examples of good practice. This streamlined health and digital literacy training has been developed in response to feedback from PIF members. It explores the key health and digital literacy challenges facing the UK and the potential solutions. Examples of good practice will be shared throughout. Key topics An introduction to health literacy What is the health literacy challenge and who is affected? Solutions to the health literacy challenge Becoming a health-literacy friendly organisation An introduction to digital literacy The challenge of digital exclusion Carrying out a digital inequalities assessment Overcoming digital inequalities Cost Members - £250 Non-members - £400 including VAT Register for the workshop
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Content Article
This is part of our series of Patient Safety Spotlight interviews, where we talk to people working for patient safety about their role and what motivates them. Rachel speaks to us about how patient partnership is key to tackling major issues facing the healthcare system and describes the central role of communication in improving patient safety. -
Content ArticleThis leaflet produced by East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT) explains the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) to patients and families, outlining the aims of PSIRF and what they can expect from the process.
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Content ArticleThe Joint Commission has released a simplified breakdown of eight patient safety goals for US hospitals in 2024.
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Content ArticleThis Medscape article looks at misconceptions about the impact of diet on cancer progression that are being spread on social media platforms such as TikTok. Examples of these ideas include the idea that you can 'starve' cancer by cutting out carbohydrates, or that an alkaline diet will stop cancer by neutralising the acid environment around a tumour. The author, John Kerr, asks whether there should be a rallying call for cancer health professionals to do more to "push these scientifically illiterate concepts away." He suggests, "Rather than just shrugging our shoulders, perhaps we should be thinking more about it?"
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Content ArticleThis Twitter thread summarises the views of Dr Ian Jackson, a retired consultant anaesthetist and former Foundation Training Programme Director, on the patient safety and training issues relating to Anaesthesia Associates (AAs). He highlights issues with the length of training AAs receive compared with anaesthetists, the difference in training individuals who have experience in healthcare and theatre roles and those who have not and the supervision model in the current AA scope of practice.
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Content ArticleIn this video story, Gaylene tells the story of her hospital stay in 1987 when she was very seriously ill—so ill that her doctors thought she would die. She describes how her wishes not to have her family visit when she looked so unwell were not listened to, which resulted in a traumatic visit for Gaylene, her husband and her four children under the age of 5. She highlights the ongoing impact the event had on her family and the importance of good communication between patients and healthcare staff.
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Content ArticleThis article tells the story of how the This Is My Story (TIMS) initiative developed at John Hopkins Medicine, and how it is giving care teams a humanising window into the lives of patients who can’t speak for themselves. Initiated by Chaplain Elizabeth Tracey, who saw the toll not being able to communicate with intubated patients was having on healthcare workers during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, TIMS provides healthcare teams with a short audio recording about each patient. The patient's family shares details about their loved one, such as information on hobbies, personal interests and the patient's career. Staff have reported the TIMS recordings having a big impact on how they view their patients, and the scheme has been rolled out across John Hopkins services.
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Content ArticleThis cross-sectional study in JAMA Network aimed to assess whether a large language model can transform discharge summaries into a format that is more readable and understandable for patients. The findings suggest that a large language model could be used to translate discharge summaries into patient-friendly language and format, but implementation will require improvements in accuracy, completeness and safety.
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Content ArticleA change in how British people and health professionals talk about death is needed to avoid delays in crucial conversations about end-of-life care, resulting in traumatic consequences for patients and their families, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) has warned. In a new report, End of life care: improving ‘do not attempt CPR’ conversations for everyone, PHSO has called for urgent improvements to the process and communication surrounding do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation (DNACPR), so doctors, patients, and their loved ones can make informed choices about their care.
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EventThis conference focuses on recognising and responding to the deteriorating patient and ensuring best practice in the use of NEWS2. The conference will include national developments, including the recent recommendations on NEWS2 and Covid-19, and implementing the recommendations from the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch Report Investigation into recognising and responding to critically unwell patients. The conference will include practical case study based sessions on identifying patients at risk of deterioration, improving practice in patient observations, the role of human factors in responding to the deteriorating patient, improving escalation and understanding success factors in escalation, sepsis and Covid-19, involving patients and families in recognising deterioration, using clinical judgement, and improving the communication and use of NEWS2 in the community, including care homes, and at the interface of care. The Recording of NEWS2 score, escalation time and response time for unplanned critical care admissions is now an NHS CQUIN goal. For further information and to book your place visit https://www.healthcareconferencesuk.co.uk/virtual-online-courses/deteriorating-patient-summit or email aman@hc-uk.org.uk. hub members receive a 20% discount. Email info@pslhub.org for the discount code. Follow on Twitter @HCUK_Clare #DeterioratingPatient
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Content ArticleIn this opinion piece for inews, Dr Punam Krishan describes the increasing levels of verbal and physical abuse GPs are experiencing from patients in the NHS. She describes how a shift in the public's perception of GPs since the pandemic has contributed to this increase in aggression and highlights that although it is only a minority of patients who display abusive behaviour, it has a big impact on GPs wellbeing and ability to treat other patients. She goes on to outline stricter measures her practice has had to put in place to crack down on abuse from patients.
