The document summarizes a study on patient and carer experiences with cancer services at a Trust in Colchester. Key findings from surveys and interviews included both positive experiences with excellent care from some staff, as well as negative experiences where communication failures led to patients and carers feeling their concerns were not listened to. The study recommended improving communication between healthcare professionals and patients, ensuring patient views are listened to and responded to, and continued support for cancer support groups.
At the end of the session patient/family champions as well as health authorities will leave armed with best practices, resources and ideas on how to open the door for patient/family engagement with health authorities and how to make the most of the time together.
Krames Patient Education is the only choice for enterprise-wide patient education. In this presentation, practices will learn who Krames Patient Education is and What we can do for you.
We will review Patient-Centered Care and Patient Education; The Case for a Patient Education Investment, The Krames Differencet; Return on Investment; and Krames Solutions.
At the end of the session patient/family champions as well as health authorities will leave armed with best practices, resources and ideas on how to open the door for patient/family engagement with health authorities and how to make the most of the time together.
Krames Patient Education is the only choice for enterprise-wide patient education. In this presentation, practices will learn who Krames Patient Education is and What we can do for you.
We will review Patient-Centered Care and Patient Education; The Case for a Patient Education Investment, The Krames Differencet; Return on Investment; and Krames Solutions.
At the end of the session patient/family champions as well as health authorities will understand different approaches to patient engagement in patient safety and quality committees (e.g. dealing with incident reporting, root cause analysis, developing policies and procedures) and how patient engagement impacted patient safety and quality outcomes. The participants and presenters are invited to present examples, tools, and leading practices so the participants will leave with at least one practical idea to implement.
Maxime Lê is a graduate of health sciences from the University of Ottawa that has worn many hats for many roles. Chief among them is being a patient advisor for The Ottawa Hospital. Having frequently been a patient and having a passion for health and healthcare, he decided to get involved at The Ottawa Hospital to help improve care, research and advocate for patients. Maxime, while sharing his hands-on experience and insights, answered the questions that healthcare providers, researchers, or prospective patient advisors may have, such as: ''What does it mean to be a patient advisor?'', ''Why is it important?'', and ''What impact does it have?''.
The webinar was followed by an interactive question and answer session.
At the end of this 90 minute session patient/ family/ advisors/ champions as well as health providers/ leaders/ authorities will leave with at least one practical idea to apply to patient advisor training as a result of their increased understanding of:
Current training programs and models in use across Canada
Training needs of patient advisors at different system levels
Gaps in training needs and ideas on how to fill them
Available supporting resources and leading practices
Patient engagement is viewed by many to be a critical component of achieving safe healthcare. The question becomes how best to engage all patients - the public - in the effort towards increasing safer healthcare practices. Other prevention efforts have effectively engaged the public in achieving significant cultural shifts in attitudes and actions. The campaign to decrease smoking is one such example. For instance, anti-smoking efforts have made it unacceptable to smoke with your children in the car. The efforts toward increasing patient safety could benefit from the lessons learned in the anti-smoking campaigns.
Patient Satisfaction deals with how patients evaluate the quality of their healthcare experience. It is mainly assessed by conducting Patient Satisfaction Surveys using Healthcare Survey Software to determine the high quality of care, in addition to numerous other dimensions of quality, such as relevance to need, effectiveness, and efficiency.
Patient Satisfaction : The Indispensable OutcomeCare Analytics
As we move into the future, the measurement of patient satisfaction is becoming less of a luxury and more of a necessity for medical groups and facilities. It is increasingly important that a patient-satisfaction program be done well, using sound protocol and methods.
Survey findings can also be used for accreditation and marketing. In this era of increasing competition and high patient demand for health care excellence, medical groups and skilled nursing facilities cannot afford to forgo the insights they can derive from patient-satisfaction surveys.
The 2015 Patient Safety Champion Awards are presented by HealthCareCAN and Canadian Patient Safety Institute with support from Patients for Patient Safety Canada.
WATCH: http://bit.ly/1U06qKn
Polls show overwhelming evidence that patients WANT to be involved in their medical records and health data, so they can partner with their clinicians for better health. Survey results from Society for Participatory Medicine 2014 and 2015 surveys.
Summary from the very first Capital C event held at Impact Hub Kings Cross on Saturday 29th November.
Capital C is a collaboration to improve cancer care for the people of London hosted by Macmillan Cancer Support and Swarm. The goal for the group is to put patient's voice at the heart of a long-term strategy to improve patient experience in London.
The changing vanguard workforce, pop up uni, 11am, 2 september 2015NHS England
Expo is the most significant annual health and social care event in the calendar, uniting more NHS and care leaders, commissioners, clinicians, voluntary sector partners, innovators and media than any other health and care event.
Expo 15 returned to Manchester and was hosted once again by NHS England. Around 5000 people a day from health and care, the voluntary sector, local government, and industry joined together at Manchester Central Convention Centre for two packed days of speakers, workshops, exhibitions and professional development.
This year, Expo was more relevant and engaging than ever before, happening within the first 100 days of the new Government, and almost 12 months after the publication of the NHS Five Year Forward View. It was also a great opportunity to check on and learn from the progress of Greater Manchester as the area prepares to take over a £6 billion devolved health and social care budget, pledging to integrate hospital, community, primary and social care and vastly improve health and well-being.
More information is available online: www.expo.nhs.uk
At the end of the session patient/family champions as well as health authorities will understand different approaches to patient engagement in patient safety and quality committees (e.g. dealing with incident reporting, root cause analysis, developing policies and procedures) and how patient engagement impacted patient safety and quality outcomes. The participants and presenters are invited to present examples, tools, and leading practices so the participants will leave with at least one practical idea to implement.
Maxime Lê is a graduate of health sciences from the University of Ottawa that has worn many hats for many roles. Chief among them is being a patient advisor for The Ottawa Hospital. Having frequently been a patient and having a passion for health and healthcare, he decided to get involved at The Ottawa Hospital to help improve care, research and advocate for patients. Maxime, while sharing his hands-on experience and insights, answered the questions that healthcare providers, researchers, or prospective patient advisors may have, such as: ''What does it mean to be a patient advisor?'', ''Why is it important?'', and ''What impact does it have?''.
The webinar was followed by an interactive question and answer session.
At the end of this 90 minute session patient/ family/ advisors/ champions as well as health providers/ leaders/ authorities will leave with at least one practical idea to apply to patient advisor training as a result of their increased understanding of:
Current training programs and models in use across Canada
Training needs of patient advisors at different system levels
Gaps in training needs and ideas on how to fill them
Available supporting resources and leading practices
Patient engagement is viewed by many to be a critical component of achieving safe healthcare. The question becomes how best to engage all patients - the public - in the effort towards increasing safer healthcare practices. Other prevention efforts have effectively engaged the public in achieving significant cultural shifts in attitudes and actions. The campaign to decrease smoking is one such example. For instance, anti-smoking efforts have made it unacceptable to smoke with your children in the car. The efforts toward increasing patient safety could benefit from the lessons learned in the anti-smoking campaigns.
Patient Satisfaction deals with how patients evaluate the quality of their healthcare experience. It is mainly assessed by conducting Patient Satisfaction Surveys using Healthcare Survey Software to determine the high quality of care, in addition to numerous other dimensions of quality, such as relevance to need, effectiveness, and efficiency.
Patient Satisfaction : The Indispensable OutcomeCare Analytics
As we move into the future, the measurement of patient satisfaction is becoming less of a luxury and more of a necessity for medical groups and facilities. It is increasingly important that a patient-satisfaction program be done well, using sound protocol and methods.
Survey findings can also be used for accreditation and marketing. In this era of increasing competition and high patient demand for health care excellence, medical groups and skilled nursing facilities cannot afford to forgo the insights they can derive from patient-satisfaction surveys.
The 2015 Patient Safety Champion Awards are presented by HealthCareCAN and Canadian Patient Safety Institute with support from Patients for Patient Safety Canada.
WATCH: http://bit.ly/1U06qKn
Polls show overwhelming evidence that patients WANT to be involved in their medical records and health data, so they can partner with their clinicians for better health. Survey results from Society for Participatory Medicine 2014 and 2015 surveys.
Summary from the very first Capital C event held at Impact Hub Kings Cross on Saturday 29th November.
Capital C is a collaboration to improve cancer care for the people of London hosted by Macmillan Cancer Support and Swarm. The goal for the group is to put patient's voice at the heart of a long-term strategy to improve patient experience in London.
The changing vanguard workforce, pop up uni, 11am, 2 september 2015NHS England
Expo is the most significant annual health and social care event in the calendar, uniting more NHS and care leaders, commissioners, clinicians, voluntary sector partners, innovators and media than any other health and care event.
Expo 15 returned to Manchester and was hosted once again by NHS England. Around 5000 people a day from health and care, the voluntary sector, local government, and industry joined together at Manchester Central Convention Centre for two packed days of speakers, workshops, exhibitions and professional development.
This year, Expo was more relevant and engaging than ever before, happening within the first 100 days of the new Government, and almost 12 months after the publication of the NHS Five Year Forward View. It was also a great opportunity to check on and learn from the progress of Greater Manchester as the area prepares to take over a £6 billion devolved health and social care budget, pledging to integrate hospital, community, primary and social care and vastly improve health and well-being.
More information is available online: www.expo.nhs.uk
Patient Focus within Healthcare CongressesPYA, P.C.
As the doctor-patient relationship evolves, the terms “patient activation and engagement” are cropping up more frequently in healthcare circles, including the International Pharmaceutical Congress Advisory Association (IPCAA) Conference in Philadelphia. PYA Principal Kent Bottles, MD, who is also chief medical officer of PYA Analytics, presented “Patient Focus within Healthcare Congresses.”
Jocelyn Cornwell: How can organisations support patients to lead quality impr...The King's Fund
Jocelyn Cornwell, Director, the Point of Care Foundation and Senior Fellow, The King's Fund spoke on the benefits of involving patients in leadership at our 2013 Leadership Summit. She drew on her experience of the Point of Care Programme and examples from other organisations, including Kingston General Hospital in Canada, to prove that once you involve patients and carers in quality improvements, the changes stick.
Our vision for using patient insight and feedback in the nhs, 12.00, pop up u...NHS England
Expo is the most significant annual health and social care event in the calendar, uniting more NHS and care leaders, commissioners, clinicians, voluntary sector partners, innovators and media than any other health and care event.
Expo 15 returned to Manchester and was hosted once again by NHS England. Around 5000 people a day from health and care, the voluntary sector, local government, and industry joined together at Manchester Central Convention Centre for two packed days of speakers, workshops, exhibitions and professional development.
This year, Expo was more relevant and engaging than ever before, happening within the first 100 days of the new Government, and almost 12 months after the publication of the NHS Five Year Forward View. It was also a great opportunity to check on and learn from the progress of Greater Manchester as the area prepares to take over a £6 billion devolved health and social care budget, pledging to integrate hospital, community, primary and social care and vastly improve health and well-being.
More information is available online: www.expo.nhs.uk
The psychological impact of living with and beyond cancer - reportAlex King
Earlier diagnosis and advances in treatment mean that more people are living with and beyond cancer,1 with approximately half of those diagnosed today living for ten years or more.2 Alongside positive clinical outcomes is the need to identify the key psychological challenges faced by individuals experiencing longterm cancer survival, and whether current provision of psychological support and services meet the needs of this relatively new group of patients. It is important to note that the psychological challenges faced during long-term survivorship are often not independent of those experienced at other points in a patient’s journey, including diagnosis, during or at completion of treatment, remission or at no evidence of disease (NED). As such, a broader view is necessary to ensure that psychological challenges faced in long-term survivorship are not addressed in isolation and individual impact is acknowledged.
Many European countries include referral pathways to psychological support in cancer care guidelines however, this is not always the case in the UK. For example, lung cancer guidelines do not include psychological assessment, referral pathways to psychological support or mention psychological burden.3 Existing guidance relating to the supportive and palliative care for adults with cancer was published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in 2004.4 Since then, the cancer treatment landscape has seen significant advances with earlier diagnosis and improved survival rates alongside changes within the wider environment including the advent of social media and other digital resources.
The ‘Psychological Support for Patients Living with Cancer - Patient Workshop’ aimed to identify the uniting, unmet psychological needs of people living with and beyond cancer. The workshop found the following key themes: • Prioritising quality of life (QoL) • Challenge of re-introduction to the community following treatment • The impact of cancer on families and carers
When addressing the provision of psychological support and ways in which current services could be improved, the following areas were discussed: • Integrating psychological support into the treatment pathway • Improving timing and communication • Securing timely support • Acknowledging differences • Getting support for families and carers
The wider environment, existing initiatives and the resulting workshop learnings will help inform MSD’s wider understanding of this topic and help to shape future planning regarding MSD’s contribution to support the psychological well-being of patients living with and beyond cancer.
Consider your questions below and respond to the followingDid.docxalfredacavx97
Consider your questions below and respond to the following:
Did the patient receive treatment that benefits his condition?
o Do I need to use the treatments and the medication they prescribe and their doctors?
o Is the treatment cost efficiency?
o The patient reevaluated for cancer and retested.
o Was the patient advised about the confidentiality act of his privacy rights?
Focus your discussion and your questions on the needs of the patient regarding their care, at least the standard of care that will be offered in this integrative model. What are some other questions you would have regarding the treatment aspect of your care? In your follow up questions, do you discern any biases for CAM? Why or why not? Clinically speaking what is the most important aspect of treatment, from your regard? How is this being met with this new model?
Use this to answer the question above.
As the consumer, some of the things that should be evaluated will be ensuring there are enough clinical officers before integrating the CAH practitioners. Through this, it will help in ensuring the clinical practice are well established. The integration of CAH practitioners is adding more health workers in the clinics since there a few workers who usually strain while in the delivery of their services of treating cancer (Sansom-Daly, U. M., 2015). Offering training to the employees of the clinics since is another thing to evaluated, as a patient in that hospital, I witnessed them lacking the best skills for dealing with cancer patients especially in the guidance and counseling sector. There will be the need for evaluating the services offered in that clinic since they sometimes lack medicines that are very crucial in the treatment of cancer. Improving on the equipment's that are used and adding more to cater for all patients in the hospital.
Offering the following.
o Did the patient receive treatment that benefits his condition?
o Do I need to use the treatments and the medication they prescribe and their doctors?
o Is the treatment cost efficiency?
o The patient reevaluated for cancer and retested.
o Was the patient advised about the confidentiality act of his privacy rights?
References
Sausen, M., Phalen, J., Adleff, V., Jones, S., Leary, R. J., Barrett, M. T. ... & Hruban, C. A. (2015). Clinical implications of genomic alterations in the tumor and circulation of pancreatic cancer patients. Nature communications.
Wiener, L., Weaver, M. S., Bell, C. J., & Sansom-Daly, U. M. (2015). Threading the cloak: palliative care education for care providers of adolescents and young adults with cancer. Clinical oncology in teenagers and young adults, 5, 1.
.
From disease-centered to patient-centered communication in breast cancerKathi Apostolidis
Breast cancer patient perspectives and experiences in patient-doctor communication
Are physicians educated and skilled to communicate difficult diagnoses to cancer patients?
What is patient centered communication?
How doctors think
Similar to Improving Patient Care- Oonagh Corrigan presentation (20)
QA Paediatric dentistry department, Hospital Melaka 2020Azreen Aj
QA study - To improve the 6th monthly recall rate post-comprehensive dental treatment under general anaesthesia in paediatric dentistry department, Hospital Melaka
Telehealth Psychology Building Trust with Clients.pptxThe Harvest Clinic
Telehealth psychology is a digital approach that offers psychological services and mental health care to clients remotely, using technologies like video conferencing, phone calls, text messaging, and mobile apps for communication.
We understand the unique challenges pickleball players face and are committed to helping you stay healthy and active. In this presentation, we’ll explore the three most common pickleball injuries and provide strategies for prevention and treatment.
Antibiotic Stewardship by Anushri Srivastava.pptxAnushriSrivastav
Stewardship is the act of taking good care of something.
Antimicrobial stewardship is a coordinated program that promotes the appropriate use of antimicrobials (including antibiotics), improves patient outcomes, reduces microbial resistance, and decreases the spread of infections caused by multidrug-resistant organisms.
WHO launched the Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS) in 2015 to fill knowledge gaps and inform strategies at all levels.
ACCORDING TO apic.org,
Antimicrobial stewardship is a coordinated program that promotes the appropriate use of antimicrobials (including antibiotics), improves patient outcomes, reduces microbial resistance, and decreases the spread of infections caused by multidrug-resistant organisms.
ACCORDING TO pewtrusts.org,
Antibiotic stewardship refers to efforts in doctors’ offices, hospitals, long term care facilities, and other health care settings to ensure that antibiotics are used only when necessary and appropriate
According to WHO,
Antimicrobial stewardship is a systematic approach to educate and support health care professionals to follow evidence-based guidelines for prescribing and administering antimicrobials
In 1996, John McGowan and Dale Gerding first applied the term antimicrobial stewardship, where they suggested a causal association between antimicrobial agent use and resistance. They also focused on the urgency of large-scale controlled trials of antimicrobial-use regulation employing sophisticated epidemiologic methods, molecular typing, and precise resistance mechanism analysis.
Antimicrobial Stewardship(AMS) refers to the optimal selection, dosing, and duration of antimicrobial treatment resulting in the best clinical outcome with minimal side effects to the patients and minimal impact on subsequent resistance.
According to the 2019 report, in the US, more than 2.8 million antibiotic-resistant infections occur each year, and more than 35000 people die. In addition to this, it also mentioned that 223,900 cases of Clostridoides difficile occurred in 2017, of which 12800 people died. The report did not include viruses or parasites
VISION
Being proactive
Supporting optimal animal and human health
Exploring ways to reduce overall use of antimicrobials
Using the drugs that prevent and treat disease by killing microscopic organisms in a responsible way
GOAL
to prevent the generation and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Doing so will preserve the effectiveness of these drugs in animals and humans for years to come.
being to preserve human and animal health and the effectiveness of antimicrobial medications.
to implement a multidisciplinary approach in assembling a stewardship team to include an infectious disease physician, a clinical pharmacist with infectious diseases training, infection preventionist, and a close collaboration with the staff in the clinical microbiology laboratory
to prevent antimicrobial overuse, misuse and abuse.
to minimize the developme
R3 Stem Cells and Kidney Repair A New Horizon in Nephrology.pptxR3 Stem Cell
R3 Stem Cells and Kidney Repair: A New Horizon in Nephrology" explores groundbreaking advancements in the use of R3 stem cells for kidney disease treatment. This insightful piece delves into the potential of these cells to regenerate damaged kidney tissue, offering new hope for patients and reshaping the future of nephrology.
Leading the Way in Nephrology: Dr. David Greene's Work with Stem Cells for Ki...Dr. David Greene Arizona
As we watch Dr. Greene's continued efforts and research in Arizona, it's clear that stem cell therapy holds a promising key to unlocking new doors in the treatment of kidney disease. With each study and trial, we step closer to a world where kidney disease is no longer a life sentence but a treatable condition, thanks to pioneers like Dr. David Greene.
Defecation
Normal defecation begins with movement in the left colon, moving stool toward the anus. When stool reaches the rectum, the distention causes relaxation of the internal sphincter and an awareness of the need to defecate. At the time of defecation, the external sphincter relaxes, and abdominal muscles contract, increasing intrarectal pressure and forcing the stool out
The Valsalva maneuver exerts pressure to expel faeces through a voluntary contraction of the abdominal muscles while maintaining forced expiration against a closed airway. Patients with cardiovascular disease, glaucoma, increased intracranial pressure, or a new surgical wound are at greater risk for cardiac dysrhythmias and elevated blood pressure with the Valsalva maneuver and need to avoid straining to pass the stool.
Normal defecation is painless, resulting in passage of soft, formed stool
CONSTIPATION
Constipation is a symptom, not a disease. Improper diet, reduced fluid intake, lack of exercise, and certain medications can cause constipation. For example, patients receiving opiates for pain after surgery often require a stool softener or laxative to prevent constipation. The signs of constipation include infrequent bowel movements (less than every 3 days), difficulty passing stools, excessive straining, inability to defecate at will, and hard feaces
IMPACTION
Fecal impaction results from unrelieved constipation. It is a collection of hardened feces wedged in the rectum that a person cannot expel. In cases of severe impaction the mass extends up into the sigmoid colon.
DIARRHEA
Diarrhea is an increase in the number of stools and the passage of liquid, unformed feces. It is associated with disorders affecting digestion, absorption, and secretion in the GI tract. Intestinal contents pass through the small and large intestine too quickly to allow for the usual absorption of fluid and nutrients. Irritation within the colon results in increased mucus secretion. As a result, feces become watery, and the patient is unable to control the urge to defecate. Normally an anal bag is safe and effective in long-term treatment of patients with fecal incontinence at home, in hospice, or in the hospital. Fecal incontinence is expensive and a potentially dangerous condition in terms of contamination and risk of skin ulceration
HEMORRHOIDS
Hemorrhoids are dilated, engorged veins in the lining of the rectum. They are either external or internal.
FLATULENCE
As gas accumulates in the lumen of the intestines, the bowel wall stretches and distends (flatulence). It is a common cause of abdominal fullness, pain, and cramping. Normally intestinal gas escapes through the mouth (belching) or the anus (passing of flatus)
FECAL INCONTINENCE
Fecal incontinence is the inability to control passage of feces and gas from the anus. Incontinence harms a patient’s body image
PREPARATION AND GIVING OF LAXATIVESACCORDING TO POTTER AND PERRY,
An enema is the instillation of a solution into the rectum and sig
How many patients does case series should have In comparison to case reports.pdfpubrica101
Pubrica’s team of researchers and writers create scientific and medical research articles, which may be important resources for authors and practitioners. Pubrica medical writers assist you in creating and revising the introduction by alerting the reader to gaps in the chosen study subject. Our professionals understand the order in which the hypothesis topic is followed by the broad subject, the issue, and the backdrop.
https://pubrica.com/academy/case-study-or-series/how-many-patients-does-case-series-should-have-in-comparison-to-case-reports/
One of the most developed cities of India, the city of Chennai is the capital of Tamilnadu and many people from different parts of India come here to earn their bread and butter. Being a metropolitan, the city is filled with towering building and beaches but the sad part as with almost every Indian city
CHAPTER 1 SEMESTER V PREVENTIVE-PEDIATRICS.pdfSachin Sharma
This content provides an overview of preventive pediatrics. It defines preventive pediatrics as preventing disease and promoting children's physical, mental, and social well-being to achieve positive health. It discusses antenatal, postnatal, and social preventive pediatrics. It also covers various child health programs like immunization, breastfeeding, ICDS, and the roles of organizations like WHO, UNICEF, and nurses in preventive pediatrics.
1. Cancer Services in Colchester:
A Study of Patient & Carer Experience
Dr Oonagh Corrigan
2. Background
• Problems with some cancer services at the Trust were first raised
following a tip-off from a hospital staff whistle-blower which prompted a
CQC investigation.
• The CQC’s subsequent identified a number of problems with cancer
services at the Trust, including not having ‘adequate systems to maintain
the safety and welfare of people receiving treatment on the cancer
pathway’ and not having ‘sufficient arrangements to promote effective
performance of the cancer service’.
• It was agreed by the Trust and other members of the especially convened
Incident Management Team, that Healthwatch Essex would undertake a
piece of qualitative research to explore patients’ lived experiences of
cancer services at Colchester.
3. Study Design
•Methodology
Our overall approach was to access the ‘lived experience’
of care and treatment by obtaining in-depth narrative
accounts from patients and carers about their experience
of cancer services in Colchester.
Methods
•Survey directed at patients and carers
• 173 people responded, 91 provided free text responses
• Focus group interviews with 3 local cancer patient support
groups.
• In-depth one to one interviews with a sub-sample -16
respondents (8 carers & 8 patients).
4. Findings: Survey
• 68% Satisfied with care
• 74 % Satisfied with Treatment
However However, these figures should be treated
with some caution. Those who gave good satisfaction
ratings often reported some aspects of care that
were poor, but where clinical outcomes for those
patients were good, poor care were more easily
overlooked.
5. Findings: Survey
• Qualitative answers provided rich contextual illustrations of ‘lived experiences’
of care.
• The care at the Cancer Ward at the old Essex [County] Hospital was superb and my
late wife always felt safe there. However the care at Colchester [General]
Hospital was abysmal. Apart from a couple of really caring nurses, the staff were,
or seemed to be, totally disinterested, they lacked any sort of empathy or
understanding of the pain their patients might be suffering and, worse, they did
not seem to want to put themselves out to administer the painkilling drugs.
(Husband of deceased lung cancer patient)
• He and his team of nurses and radio-therapy staff treated me with dignity and
compassion at all times, and made myself and my wife feel that we were members
of a team working to a common goal. (Patient with multiple types of cancer,
survey)
6. Focus Group Findings: Cancer Support
Groups
• There were numerous benefits reported for those
who regularly attended cancer support groups.
• Support received from the group was of a different
nature to the support and information received more
directly from the hospital.
• Good to meet with others face-to-face to share
experiences and information:
All the leaflets you can read, you can read forever, on
the internet, anywhere, but it’s not the same as
seeing somebody sitting there. (Patient, Lymphoma
FG)
7. Findings Cancer Support Groups
Cancer Nurse Specialist
we could phone her up at any time. (Patient, Lymphoma FG)
… instead of worrying about it, you can ring and find out. That’s
the thing; there is always someone at the end of the phone.
(Patient, Urology FG)
Monica had gone that extra mile. When I sent the email, it
could have sat in her inbox, I didn’t know how busy she was,
but she looked, she knew this patient was anxious. She also
knew the results, she knew they were good and contacted the
patient on the phone to make sure she knew they were good as
well. That is brilliant service. It’s not necessary but, my word,
it makes a difference. (Patient, GI FG)
8. The Role of Carers
Carers play a key role in providing care, advocacy and
support to patients and are often highly valued by
patients, but many reported feeling too easily dismissed by
staff when they raised concerns and were not always part
of the communication process regarding treatment
decisions.
10. Excellent Care too…
He’d come and sit on the bed, and perhaps
squeeze my hand, and say, “you’re doing
really well, keep fighting”, just words like
that. I can’t explain the difference that
made; it made you feel like you were a
person rather than just someone in a bed. It
made a world of difference; he would come
and see me occasionally as well, and basically
reassure me to keep fighting… it was just a
caring attitude. (Gary, lower GI cancer
patient)
12. Being Listened to
Respondents detailed how, when they did
express views, staff could appear disinterested
and only had very limited time to actually
listen:
The clerical support staff let the service down
by not listening to me as the cancer grew and
grew until it was touch and go if it would be
possible to cut it out. (102, Skin cancer
patient, survey)
Some of the junior doctors were very helpful
but, with exception of one or two nurses, I
couldn’t find anyone that was even vaguely
interested in my and, more importantly, my
wife’s views. (120, carer of lung cancer
patient, survey, interviewed)
13. Key Findings:
Many of our respondents reported feeling that
protocol, process and paperwork appeared to
take precedence over basic patient care.
Failures in communication included instances of
physician insensitivity with regards to breaking
bad news, shared decision-making, and listening
to patients.
Some patients and carers felt that their concerns
were often not listened to and that there was a
defensive culture when a complaint was raised.
14. Key Findings: Communication
• The need to improve communication is a key
finding.
• Studies show that effective communication
between healthcare professionals and their
patients not only improves the patient
experience, in terms of improved patient
understanding and trust, but it is also linked
to better clinical outcomes for patients
(Arora 2003; Epstein & Street 2007; Street et
al 2009).
15. Reccommendations
1. More effective ways of ensuring that patients’ and carers’ views
and experiences are listened and responded to.
2. Communication must be made more effective at all levels and by
all healthcare professionals.
3. Qualitative methods in research, and ongoing evaluation, should
be adopted so as to better understand patients’ and carers’
experiences and to support continuing quality improvement
programmes.
4. Support for and engagement with existing cancer support groups
should be maintained, and the formation of new groups for
cancer types not already represented should be encouraged and
facilitated.
5. Continued professional development training opportunities in
ethics, for staff at the Trust and elsewhere in the Colchester
area, should be provided.
16. Follow Up
Since the Report was published in October 2014 we have received
formal responses from the Trust who have acted upon a number
of our recommendations including:
• the provision of training and Formal Education and Training
opportunities in ethics to improve Communication
• Support for new Cancer Support Group and the development of
User Engagement with existing cancer support groups.
• The development of further Qualitative research programmes
to better understand patients and carers lived experiences with
the aim of supporting clinical teams to further develop quality
improvement programmes.
17. To access a copy of the Report please visit our webpage
http://www.healthwatchessex.org.uk/what-we-do/topics/cancer-services-in-colc
Editor's Notes
Welcome and thanks
Here to give you a brief introduction to HW Essex… to give you a flavour of our role, our intended ways of working, and also some of the ways that people can get involved.