Patient focus updates - 11 October 2012

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.

1000 Lives Plus: Healthcare students asked to support person-centred care initiative. The 1000 Lives Plus Student Chapter is encouraging all healthcare students in Wales to join a new campaign to ensure care is focused on the people using NHS Wales services. Students who are involved can win a place to meet other students and healthcare experts at the International Forum on Quality and Safety in London in April 2013.
Students and person-centred care.

BMC Health Services Research: The short-term effect on alliance and satisfaction of using patient feedback scales in mental health out-patient treatment. A randomised controlled trial. “The main aim was to investigate the effect of using two brief feedback scales in mental health out-patient treatment six weeks after starting treatment, compared to treatment as usual. Hypotheses were that use of feedback scales would improve treatment alliance and patient satisfaction.”

Care Inspectorate: Complaints. The Care Inspectorate has launched a new, streamlined system for investigating complaints against registered care services, including care homes, care at home services and a wide range of social care services. It will streamline the time it takes to rule on complaints, reduce the numbers of steps in the process and make the results of complaint investigations easier to understand. 

Care Inspectorate: Protecting Vunlnerable Groups (PVG) Guidance for Care Inspectorate staff and service providers. The Care Inspectorate's Fitness Policy Group has produced new PVG guidance. The PVG scheme was introduced in 2011. Initially membership was restricted to new appointments or staff promotions. On 29 October 2012 Disclosure Scotland (DS) will commence retrospective checking opening membership to existing eligible staff on a phased basis over the next 3 years.

DH: Healthwatch England launched. Healthwatch England, the new national, statutory consumer champion for health and social care in England was launched on 1 October 2012. "A key milestone in achieving the government’s vision set out in the White Paper ‘Equity and excellence: Liberating the NHS’, Healthwatch England exists to ensure the public’s voice is heard at the national level".

DH: Guidance for NHS trusts on the NHS friends and family test. The guidance details the background, requirements and implications of putting into practice a national friends and family test within the NHS. It aims to support those who will be implementing this work. Collection of the data for the test needs to be in place at the latest by April 2013 and covers all acute inpatient wards and all type 1 and 2 A&E departments.

DH: Eight thousand patients to benefit from advanced cancer treatment. Almost 8,000 more cancer patients a year could benefit from the rollout of an advanced radiotherapy technique with fewer side effects. The Cancer Radiotherapy Innovation Fund will be used to speed up the use of Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT) across the NHS so that more cancer patients can benefit from it from next April.
Guardian: NHS reforms should give patients more power and control. Article by Jeremy Taylor Chief Executive of National Voices.

DHSSPS: Online programme could help more people who suffer from depression. Health Minister Edwin Poots has urged people who are depressed to access an online programme aimed at tackling the symptoms of depression. The interactive tool enables patients to take control of their treatment and their mental health by changing the way they think about issues affecting their lives. Beatingtheblues.co.uk website.

INVOLVE: Impact of Patient, Carer and Public Involvement in Cancer Research (PDF 1.8MB). This report highlights the impact of patient, carer and public involvement (PPI) in cancer research. For researchers and clinicians it provides information about how patient and public involvement can contribute to studies and to clinical trials. For patients and carers considering involvement, it shows the diversity and value of the opportunities open to them at national, regional and local levels.

James Lind Alliance: James Lind Alliance Pressure Ulcer Partnership (JLAPUP) survey. The survey focuses on what is needed in order to improve prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers (bed sores) and what are the questions about pressure ulcer prevention and treatment that matter most to patients, carers and clinicians?

National Information Governance Board for Health and Social Care: Information flows and personal information in the new commissioning landscape. Robust information governance enables us to safeguard the privacy and confidentiality of personal confidential information. In the new commissioning environment, information governance remains vitally important. Liability for information governance rests with the legal entity responsible for the processing of data, even where this is contracted out, and organisations need to ensure they comply with their legal obligations.

NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement (NHS Institute): The Productive Mental Health Ward and Learning Disabilities: Bradford District Care Trust - Service users play vital role in improvements. This new case study highlights the importance of involving service users in the process of change.  

Patients Association: Patients and GPs – partners in care. According to a snapshot of opinion published by the Patients Association “patients too often feel disempowered and disengaged from their care, report feeling patronised by their clinicians and want to be more involved in planning their care, more involved in decisions about their treatment and better supported to manage their conditions independently”. The Association recommends a number of ‘calls to action’ in four key areas: communication; referrals; deregistration; integration.

RCN Factsheets: Short briefings outlining what is know so far about one of the new organisations created by the Health and Social Care Act 2012, Healthwatch England.
Healthwatch England (PDF 30.2KB). 
Local Healthwatch (PDF 33.8KB).

Scottish Government: Your health, your rights. The Charter of Patient Rights and Responsibilities. The Charter of Patient Rights and Responsibilities sets out a summary of you can expect when you use NHS services and receive NHS care in Scotland. It gives you a right to give feedback, comments, raise concerns or complaints about the care you have received.