Patient focus updates - 10 January 2013

New policy, guidance and initiatives from across the UK that focus on the patient perspective and experience. For more information about this theme see Quality and Safety e-Bulletin: Patient focus.

Some of the resources linked to are in PDF format - see how to access PDF files.

BBC: Nurses in Wales to give patients advice after drink injuries. “Nurses are being put on the front line of fighting the growing tide of binge drinking and alcohol related injuries and illnesses in Wales. They are to counsel patients who return to hospital after a drink-related injury about the dangers.”

Carers UK: Autumn Statement 2012 briefing. Carers UK analyses what the 2012 Autumn Statement will mean for carers, with measures including the uprating of benefits, increases to the personal tax allowance, planned changes to the Basic State Pension and funding for social care.

DH: Steps set out for greater patient involvement and more choice. The Government’s response to its consultation on proposals for greater patient involvement and more choice has been published. For the first time, people who use mental health services will get more choice about where and how they get their condition treated by the NHS.

DH: Health grant awarded to victims of Thalidomide. The Department of Health will pay around £80 million over 10 years to the Thalidomide Trust, which dispenses help and support to people disabled by the drug. This will provide additional financial support for England’s 325 surviving “thalidomiders”, many of whom are unable to work and require adapted homes and cars.
Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS): Poots announces 10 year settlement for thalidomide survivors.  Health Minister Edwin Poots has said that he will extend the current health grant for thalidomide survivors in Northern Ireland for a further 10 years in line with similar action in the rest of the UK.
Scottish Government: Millions for Thalidomide survivors. The Scottish Government funding will help the 58 known thalidomide survivors in Scotland - many of whom are now in their fifties.

Dignity Action Day. Dignity Action Day #DAD2013 is an annual opportunity for health and social care workers and members of the public to uphold people's rights to dignity and provide a truly memorable day for people who use care services. This year the day is on 1 February 2013.

Dr Foster & Patient Opinion: What happens in the NHS on Christmas Day? In collaboration with Patient Opinion, Dr Foster has analysed for the first time hospital activity on Christmas Day, hoping that it will inspire patients and carers to say thanks to the dedicated staff delivering healthcare this Christmas.

Health Foundation: Improving patient experience newsletter December 2012. The latest newsletter looks at issues around care from the patient’s perspective and some practical ideas to improve patient experience.

Institute of Public Health in Ireland: Major Public Health Agency campaign to tackle obesity. A major new public information campaign to tackle overweight and obesity has been launched by the Public Health Agency (PHA). The campaign is taking two main approaches: firstly, helping people to identify whether they are inching towards bad health by being overweight or obese, and secondly, offering advice on small steps that they can take to help reduce their waist size.

National Voices: Coordinated care: a single system definition and narrative. National Voices in partnership with the NHS Commissioning Board and the Local Government Association have been working with patients and patient representatives to create a single Narrative for the integration of health and care. “The goal is to unify the approach of the health and social care systems to delivering person centred, coordinated care for individuals and their carers”. The Commissioning Board will adopt the completed Narrative and the aim is for all system leaders, commissioners and providers to adopt it too – and pledge to work to achieve it. Feedback on the draft Narrative is requested by 20 February 2013.
National Voices: Defining integrated care - feedback requested.

NHS Commissioning Board: Everyone counts: planning for patients. This guidance outlines the incentives and levers that will be used to improve services from April 2013, the first year of the new NHS, where improvement is driven by clinical commissioners. The aim is to help local clinicians deliver more responsive health services, focused on improving outcomes for patients, addressing local priorities and meeting the rights people have under the NHS Constitution.
RCN: RCN welcomes NHS Commissioning Board patient pledge.

Picker Institute Europe: Practical recommendations for advancing Shared Decision-Making and patient experience. This report provides further evidence for understanding shared decision-making and offers practical recommendations for advancing shared decision-making within local health services. Recommendations range from sharing successes, to laying the groundwork for multi-disciplinary and multi-agency working, securing senior leadership support and operationalising Midlands and East SHA’s ‘patient revolution’ initiatives. Commissioned by NHS East Midlands, the research included a series of focus groups with young people, parents and carers who shared their experiences of health and care. Individual interviews as well as a discussion group and a hands-on workshop with health professionals formed the latter stages of the research.

Scottish Government: Single room commitment. Twenty-six hospitals across Scotland are now 100 per cent single rooms, helping to protect patients’ dignity and reduce healthcare associated infections. Health Secretary Alex Neil has reinforced his commitment to single rooms in all new and most refurbished hospitals, and announced that 12 per cent of hospitals are now 100 per cent single rooms.

Scottish Government: A Consultation on the proposal to establish a National Confidential Forum - Analysis of Consultation Responses. The aim of the Forum is to give adults the opportunity to recount, in confidence, their experiences of being in care as children to a non-judgemental and independent panel. "The intention is that participation in the Forum will contribute to an improvement in the health and wellbeing of the people who participate, through the direct acknowledgement of their experiences, including experiences of abuse and neglect".

Scottish Government: Evaluation of the Health Board Elections and Alternative Pilots - Research. This report describes the statutory evaluation of the NHS Scotland health board electoral and alternative pilot projects arising from the Health Boards (Membership and Elections) (Scotland) Act 2009. The Act follows several other measures in Scotland which have aimed to increase public involvement and accountability in NHS decision making. 
Research findings.
Literature review.

Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE): Briefings on personalisation: