Open Forum Events are proud to be hosting their annual Improving Patient Care: Enhancing Quality and Experience conference. This year’s theme will continue to focus on reducing the gap that can exists in the quality of care provided to ensure patients receive the highest standards at all times whilst receiving treatment.
The NHS is facing many challenges. Greater demand on services is fuelled by an increasingly aged and frail population whilst patient expectation is higher than in previous times. Major new challenges exist due to increasing obesity and unhealthy lifestyles and resultant clinical problems such as diabetes. Greater demand means increased costs and an increase in the number of medical staff required and the pressures they face. Whilst advances in medical science and treatments are always welcome they are very often expensive adding further pressure to NHS budgets at a time of fiscal constraints.
NHS leaders are constantly having to make difficult decision and choices as to where their priorities lie. However, one area that cannot be compromised is that of the quality of care patients receive. Better quality of care means better outcomes, which in turn results in lower costs.
The Improving Patient Care: Enhancing Quality and Experience conference will examine how the delivery of care has changed post the Francis and Berwick reports. The programme will focus on the positive steps being made to ensure the safety and care needs of patients are being met to the highest possible standards. The event will feature a highly informative agenda featuring examples of best practice and showcase innovative ways of working which delegates may feel appropriate to implement into their own organisations. Throughout the day there will be ample opportunity to discuss, debate and knowledge share through a series of question and answer sessions and networking breaks.
With the NHS facing unprecedented financial and resource pressures what difficulties do front line staff face in meeting the standards and quality of the care they provide?
Treating patients with compassion, respect and dignity is fundamental in achieving high standards of care whilst involving patients in the decision making improves patient experience and delivers better outcomes.
The Five Year Forward View states the three key elements for quality healthcare are patient safety, clinical effectiveness, and patient experience. How can the use of technology support these crucial objectives?
The CQC has released a national report looking at people’s experiences of help, care and support during a mental health crisis.
The NHS is expected to treat patients in a safe environment and protect them from avoidable harm. The Berwick report, A Promise to Learn – a commitment to act, made a series of recommendations to improve patient safety; and called for the NHS “to become, more than ever before, a system devoted to continual learning and improvement of patient care, top to bottom and end to end.” There are now several national initiatives to reduce patient safety incidents to the minimum.
People with dementia experience care in a variety of health and social care settings and they deserve the best quality care in all of them. For too many this is not the case – they experience care that does not meet their needs or support their wellbeing. This session will look at the experiences of care of people affected by dementia in hospitals, the barriers that exist which prevent people with dementia from getting high quality personalised care, and will share best practice and policy solutions that will enable people with dementia to access high quality, personalised care in hospital.
In the past the view was that health care does ‘to’ or ‘for’ people rather than ‘with’ them. The patient should no longer be a passive recipient of care and be closely engaged in their own health, care and treatment. Patient involvement in the design, planning and delivery of health services can improve both experience and care.
Manchester conducted an Enter & View (E&V) observation of the Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI) Adult Accident & Emergency (A&E) and Walk-in Centres and used this opportunity to interview people in the waiting areas to investigate the perceived inappropriate use of A&E services. Recommendations were made to improve the standard of the environment in the waiting areas.
A look at how a community approach to health care, through the involvement of volunteers, the local community and businesses is supporting Shrewsbury & Telford Hospital NHS Trust to improve its patient’s experience and their environment.
Over the past few years the Trust has actively sought to engage its local community in the work of our hospitals. The number of public volunteers has risen from 27 to over 500, with the Trust developing a number of roles for volunteers, from generally helping on wards to dementia buddies, mealtime buddies and befrienders, as well as more ad hoc opportunities such as gardening, painting and other refurbishment projects. The Trust has recently introduced a staff volunteer scheme so that non-clinical staff who want to spend some time volunteering to support patients on the ward can do so.
A lot of work has also been carried out with young volunteers. This has involved working with schools from the communities the Trust serves to give young people a chance to get involved with their local hospital, over a 6 month period to find out more about working in a healthcare environment. The Young Volunteers programme has seen 91% of participants go on to study for a healthcare related degree.
Opportunities for community volunteers to work at both hospital sites has also seen the creation of beautiful and healing garden environments for patients, staff and visitors. This has also involved working with private sectors partners who donated time and money. The introduction of informal volunteering ‘Make A Difference’ Days, provides the public and local businesses the opportunity to participate in one-off Make A Difference volunteering days. This enables our local community to get more involved with the Trust without the formality of an on-going volunteer commitment.
The development of volunteering within the organisation is underpinned by the Trust’s five year Volunteer Strategy and action plan which the Trust Board approved last year.
The Place Aparthotel is the transformation of a Grade II listed former cotton warehouse into award-winning serviced apartments. The historic importance of its strategic location next to canal and rail links continue today with guests enjoying easy access from Piccadilly Station, which is just around the corner, as well as easy road access and on-site parking.
