Patient focus updates - 7 March 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.

Age UK: Women ‘missing out on cancer drugs due to age’. Two separate studies have led to claims that the NHS is not treating women in a “fair and equal way”. One study reveals that women are being denied breast cancer treatment because of their age. A second study shows that Britain has the biggest gap in age-related survival rates for breast cancer.

British Medical Association (BMA): Section 75-77 briefing: regulations on procurement, patient choice and competition, March 2013. This briefing provides an overview on sections 75-77 of the Health and Social Care Act which state that commissioners must adhere to good practice in relation to procurement and must not engage in anti-competitive behaviour which is against the interests of people who use health services. It also highlights key concerns that the BMA hold on these sections of the Act.

DH: Liverpool Care Pathway independent review: sessions with families and carers. Baroness Julia Neuberger will be holding some sessions with families and carers to listen to their experiences of the Liverpool Care Pathway for Dying Patients (LCP). Sessions have now been arranged for 20 March in Leeds and 16 May in Preston.

DH: Guidance on patient-led assessments. Guidance and assessment forms for the new patient-led assessments of the care environment (PLACE) have been published by the NHS Commissioning Board. The new assessment will be introduced in April 2013 and replace the old Patient Environment Action Team (PEAT) inspections. The assessments will apply to hospitals, hospices and day treatment centres providing NHS funded care.

DH: Procurement, patient choice and competition regulations. These regulations are being put into place under Section 75 of Health and Social Care Act 2012 in order to maintain key existing requirements falling on PCTs. This includes establishing good procurement practice, protecting patient choice, and addressing anti-competitive conduct where this acts against the interests of patients.

Health in Wales: Innovative lifestyle programme helps patients get into shape for surgery. A new weight and exercise support programme is reaping benefits for the people of North Wales. The Orthopaedic Lifestyle Management Programme, which holds weekly sessions at Prestatyn Leisure Centre, is aimed at overweight adults who may need hip or knee replacement surgery.

Health in Wales: Website launch SEWGOC. The South East Wales Gyanecological Oncology Centre website has been officially launched. The site is targeted towards patients and professionals and the aim is primarily on information dissemination.

INVOLVE: Putting it into practice database. Online resource of over 80 references on planning public involvement.

National Institute for Health Research: UK Clinical Trials Gateway: Public and Patient Survey 2012. The UK Clinical Trials Gateway (UKCTG) aims to help patients take part in research by providing high-quality information on clinical trials. This report sets out the findings and recommendations of the UKCTG Public and Patient Survey carried out in July 2012, on how effective the UKCTG is as a tool for people to access information on clinical trials.
2012 patient feedback on the UK clinical trials gateway resource (PDF 226.1KB).

NIHR: Mystery shopper campaign highlights NHS shortcomings in promoting clinical research. An NIHR initiative has revealed shortcomings in promoting clinical research to patients. Many NHS patients are hitting an information "brick wall" when it comes to finding out about clinical research, according to the results of an NIHR investigation published in January 2013.

Scottish Government: Waiting times advice line. A new phone line for patients seeking advice on waiting times will be introduced. The line will be piloted in the summer of 2013 for 12 months and will be run by health information service NHS Inform, which is part of NHS 24.

Social Care Institute for Excellence: Help make history – Care leavers – SCIE needs your stories. For this Care Leavers’ Stories Project SCIE wish to interview 25 care experienced people, aged between 25 or older, with a strong London connection and record their life stories on digital video. The films will be recorded between March and May 2013. They will archived by the British Library as part of their oral history collection.

SCIE: Find Me Good Care extends review service. People can now review any care and support service that they have used on Find Me Good Care.Originally this review option was limited to services with an enhanced listing, but is now being extended to all 30,500 services listed on the site.

South Yorkshire Collaborations in Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC): Be Involved ... Includes an introductory film about why the voice of the public is vital in health research and to the work of CLAHRC for South Yorkshire.