Staff at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust have implemented an improvement project as part of the nationally celebrated Experience of Care Week.
Experience of Care Week is a nationally celebrated week which offers teams and organisations the chance to celebrate the work that is happening to improve experiences of care; sharing best practice with others across the country.
As part of Experience of Care Week, Mr Tarek Hany, Colorectal Surgeon at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals, is sharing the early learning from an exciting project that he is leading on an improvement project entitled Patient Contribution to Case Notes (PCCN).
Mr Hany has worked with patients to co-design a patient diary which has been piloted on ward 12 (colorectal) at Royal Preston Hospital with impressive early results. Patients are provided with a diary early in their journey, usually at their first outpatient appointment, and the purpose explained. The diary has been designed with patients to capture what matters most to them.
“The diary opens with a section for patients to share with us their feelings and experiences from the time of referral by their GP through to tests and clinic visits up to the date of hospital admission,” explains Mr Hany.
“Patients then complete the diary daily, summarising their understanding of their progress so far and what they need to know today about their progress. There is a section for patients to describe any issues or concerns which they wish to discuss with the nursing and medical staff followed by a summary of what the patient needs to do today to make their recovery faster.”
The pilot commenced a few weeks ago on ward 12 and has been more successful than could have been initially anticipated. Over 40 patients have now completed diaries and the colorectal team has identified the key themes which are important to patients whilst on the wards. Their highest priorities include pain relief and worries regarding stoma care.
Mr Hany commented: ‘We are committed to continuing to embed this project across our service and are excited to share the early learning from the project during the national Experience of Care week.”
The patient feedback is also being used in ways which had not been anticipated at the outset of this project. Mr Paul Barrow, Colorectal Surgeon, and Ailsa Brotherton, Director of Continuous Improvement, have just commenced the Health Foundation funded Flow Coaching Academy programme and will be setting up a ‘Big Room’ conversation aimed at improving the processes and pathway for colorectal cancer patients. They have reviewed the patient’s contribution to case notes to identify the priorities patients have identified. These include capturing the positive elements of the service as well as the improvements patients would like delivered, such as reducing the times they wait for diagnostic results and reducing cancelled operations.
The Flow Coaching Academy, Lancashire and South Cumbria, is one of a network of ten in the country and allows teams the opportunity to take part in a 12 month action learning programme aimed at developing the combination of coaching skills and improvement science.
Karen Partington, Chief Executive, said: “This is such a fabulous example of how our surgeons are leading the way in engaging effectively with our patients, ensuring that what matters to our patients is at centre of the care they receive. It is hugely exciting to see how this will be fully adopted in the colorectal service and shared with other teams.”