Coming Events
Next LEIGHS Seminar
Avoiding complaints and claims: patient safety and patient experience
Thursday 14th July 2011, 2 pm at the offices of Browne Jacobson, 44 Castle Gate, Nottingham, NG1 7BJ
by Bev Fitzsimons, Programme Manager - Point of Care Programme The King's Fund
Bev is a social scientist who has been working on the King's Fund Point of Care programme for two years. Before that she spent 25 years working in various roles in healthcare regulation, at the Audit Commission, Commission for Healthcare Improvement and Healthcare Commission. During this time, she led a number of national reviews including a review of maternity services, the care of people with long term conditions including diabetes and COPD, and the quality of care offered by Independent Sector Treatment Centres.
Background
In spite of improvements in the health service, patients feel that that they are not always treated with kindness, compassion and consideration. While patient surveys show high levels of satisfaction, stories from patients themselves indicate a much patchier picture.
The King’s Fund’s Point of Care programme is concerned with the delivery of patient centred care, which means ‘providing care that is respectful of and responsive to individual patient preferences, needs, and values and ensuring that patient values guide all clinical decisions’.
Complaints and patients’ stories tell us something about the impact on patients when aspects of this “patient centredness” are missing. Patients’ accounts often combine poor experiences, poor clinical practice and risks to safety. This combination is not uncommon. The things people say give them a poor experience, are often the same things that crop up in patient safety reports, complaints and claims:
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Lack of communication or miscommunication ( which can lead to mistakes, clinical errors, fearful (“non-compliant”) patients)
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Lack of care and attention – which can lead to failure to notice (trips and falls, infections, poor nutrition)
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Inability of staff to speak up (which can lead to errors, sub-optimal care, lack of compassion).
Patient-centred care matters because there is evidence that:
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Organisations that are more patient-centred have better clinical outcomes
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Improved doctor-patient communication associated with greater compliance (medication) and self-management of chronic condition
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Anxiety and fear can delay healing
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Services that score well on patient-centred care achieve higher rates of patient satisfaction and a better organisational reputation.
Medical institutions carry risks to patients. The first aim today, as always, must be do no harm. Harm comes in many guises. Harm to patients' sense of self, to their integrity as a person, and to their confidence and trust in the people on whom they have to depend can be as severe and enduring as physical harm.