Lots of things came to a grinding halt in March with the arrival of COVID, but we’re steadily returning to business as usual – with a recognition that usual might be a bit unusual for a while still.
Before the pandemic a monthly group got together to push forward the ambitions of the Trustwide Patient and Carer Experience Review. I’m delighted to say that we’ll be reinstating the group as a virtual meeting on Monday 27th July (10:30 – 12:00) and everyone is welcome.
New Patient and Carer Experience Review Group:
Monday 27th July (on Microsoft Teams)
10:30am – 12:00pm
It makes sense, after a long break and with some significant changes to what we’re doing about feedback and new ways of working for the next few months, to see this as a new chapter in the life of the group. The group to date has been predominantly volunteers, our most established Patient Experience Volunteers, who’ve been brilliant – so dedicated to the task of hearing from patients, families and carers and so insightful about how we could improve what we currently do. I really hope they can all join virtually, though I know it won’t quite be the same. We’d like this group to grow though, bringing in more staff, especially our IEV leads and frontline feedback champions who equally have lots of insight and ideas, and give us that really useful ‘That’s going to be difficult in reality’ check.
The group began by looking at just one of the areas of improvement we identified in phase one of the review – how we show people that their feedback makes a difference – but over time we began discussing other areas, which was great. They’re all so interrelated that it’s difficult to focus on solely on one anyway.
We’re in the second phase of the review, that being to prioritise work on five areas of improvement identified in phase 1 – in relation to how we capture, analyse and act upon feedback and how we show people what has changed as a result. The five areas are:
- Learning to listen – Finding new, and adapting existing, ways to capture feedback from patients, carers and families. Maximising the opportunities we have to listen to feedback from patients when they’re in our care and when they’re recently discharged, when they feel most passionately about their experience of our services.
- Show and Tell – Improving how often and how effectively we communicate the difference feedback makes to our services. Making sure people know their feedback is welcomed, valued and used to make things better for everyone.
- Hearing from people cared for in their own homes/the community – Reaching out to people who don’t ordinarily come into our hospitals/buildings and are not aware of how feedback makes a difference, promoting the ways they can give feedback and showing them that their voice matters too.
- Understanding our data – Making sure that the experience of patients, carers and families is well understood and always considered alongside other ‘harder’ measures of how our services are doing (like clinical effectiveness, patient safety). Bringing all the data we have together to give us the most accurate view of what services are getting right and what they could improve upon.
- Making more of the positives – Considering a compliment as more than just a pat on the back, understanding that it holds real insight into what services are doing well, what truly matters to patients and what we should be aiming for. Sharing and celebrating excellence – from the perspective of our patients, families and carers.
In the first of our meetings in this form, we’re going to:
- Update you on what’s been happening about capturing feedback during lockdown
- Update you (in detail) about two new things: feedback via text message, and iPads on the wards
- Discuss the new patient experience volunteer role that’s emerging – to talk to patients over Skype about their experiences
- Review the new experience survey designs
- Discuss the work to revise our comment codes to enable more useful reporting on people’s experiences
- Set the agenda for next time, likely to be focussing on either how we show patients their feedback makes a difference or how we can make more of positive feedback
If you have an interest in how our services capture and use feedback to improve care, doesn’t matter what your role or perspective, or how connected you’ve been to all this before, PLEASE join us on 27th July and help us to amplify the voices of patients, families and carers.
To join the meeting:
The meeting will be held on Microsoft Teams, beginning at 10:30am. You will need to be invited (and therefore have a link to join).
It is ideal to have the Microsoft Teams (free) software downloaded on whichever device you have (tablet, laptop or PC ideally – but it will also work on a smart phone) but you can also join as a guest without having to download any software.
Please contact amy.gaskin-williams@nottshc.nhs.uk if you would like to join the meeting; I will send you all the information you need and can help get you sorted.