The document discusses improving healthcare by focusing more on individual patients and treating them with dignity and respect as people rather than diseases or conditions. It emphasizes setting clear standards, measuring outcomes, and empowering staff to use compassion and common sense rather than limiting themselves only to processes and controls. The overall message is to make patients and their families true partners in care and never lose sight that the healthcare system exists to serve patients.

1. Were you proud?
Ruth Poole, Director, Healthcare at Home

2. If you could change one thing in healthcare, what would it be?
More effective transition planning
Better communication
Reduce the power of acute care consultants
Transparency in outcomes variation
Get family carers to do more

3. Only one person mentioned the patient
“Greater attention to an individual patient’s sense of identity”

4. Fact: patients rehabilitate faster, with better outcomes and take more
responsibility for their care when treated at home.

5. Systems and levers?
What are the right systems and levers to ensure good quality care and
experience?
One very simple question…

6. Were you proud of that?

7. Defend your values as an organisation
1. Set standards
2. Measure against them
3. Do spot checks with quality managers and/or mystery shoppers
4. Make your team part of the dream share
5. Notice when things are done well and make them proud
6. Hold their feet to the fire

8. Defend their values as people
1. Does Sally see herself as Sally, or as a cancer patient? Respect your
patients as people
2. Help them make their own choices
3. Give them the confidence to take control
4. Do not judge them for their choices and decisions

10. Don’t limit yourself or your team
• Diseases and conditions are predictable
• Treatments are predictable
• That’s why we can build patient pathways
• But people aren’t predictable: we’re individuals, so let’s not limit ourselves to
KPIs and process controls.
• We have to have faith in our staff to act as humans, with compassion, logic,
common sense
• If you’ve instilled the right culture, it works

11. Make patients part of your wider team
• Dementia: patients and cases can be unpredictable
• Principal carers are often elderly, stressed, tired, overstretched
• Health intervention is as much about supporting the families and carers
• Make them part of your team: they are healthcare workers (just not paid and
without the pension!)

12. Never forget who we’re here for