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Jones R.1,2
1Governor, Moorfields Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom, 2JJ Consulting Healthcare Management Ltd, England and Wales, United Kingdom
Background: Patient safety issues arise in every healthcare system throughout the world. It is processes, procedures, conditions, environment and constraints that healthcare staff face that challenge patient safety. There are many important goals, but the central focus must be on patient-centred care. If leadership and managerial responsibility for quality and safety is fragmented or confused, then it is not clearly “owned”.
A recent UK Government Review stated, “Safety must be the highest priority for quality patient care”; this is true for physiotherapy as in all other disciplines. Evidence shows that patient experience measures are robust indicators of healthcare quality, for example, hospitals with low patient experience scores have higher re-admission rates; good communication influences emotional health, symptom resolution and reported pain and effective self-management of long term conditions. Dissatisfied patients are less likely to follow their treatment plans and may not follow discharge recommendations.
Following publication in the UK of several Government commissioned and other reports critical of patient safety and quality of care, there is increasing awareness that involving patients in decisions about healthcare at both personal and strategic level is fundamentally important to improvement of health and quality of care as well as being a basic right. Evidence also shows that services with high staff engagement have better patient experience and significantly higher patient satisfaction.
A recent UK Government Review stated, “Safety must be the highest priority for quality patient care”; this is true for physiotherapy as in all other disciplines. Evidence shows that patient experience measures are robust indicators of healthcare quality, for example, hospitals with low patient experience scores have higher re-admission rates; good communication influences emotional health, symptom resolution and reported pain and effective self-management of long term conditions. Dissatisfied patients are less likely to follow their treatment plans and may not follow discharge recommendations.
Following publication in the UK of several Government commissioned and other reports critical of patient safety and quality of care, there is increasing awareness that involving patients in decisions about healthcare at both personal and strategic level is fundamentally important to improvement of health and quality of care as well as being a basic right. Evidence also shows that services with high staff engagement have better patient experience and significantly higher patient satisfaction.
Purpose: · To set out a wide range of methods for physiotherapists to gather, analyse and incorporate patients' views about healthcare services they, their carers, families and friends use and experience.
· To enable physiotherapy leaders, managers and their teams to drive forward improvements, implement sustainable action plans and ensure that services are patient-centred and safe.
· To enable physiotherapy leaders, managers and their teams to drive forward improvements, implement sustainable action plans and ensure that services are patient-centred and safe.
Methods: The presentation illustrates ways of seeking out, listening to and using patients and carers voices, essential input to monitoring the safety and quality of physiotherapy services and for incorporation into standards of care. A wide range of methods of listening to and gathering information from patients on their experiences are used to improve quality and ensure that care is patient- centred. Approaches include: focus groups, friends and family test, social media, monitoring and learning from complaints, plaudits and suggestions, walking the floors and feedback by patient representatives, use of Wordles, electronic feedback through public data input points and many others.
Results: Learning from patient experience is incorporated into action planning for sustainable service improvements and developments and to improve quality of care and ensure patient safety. Examples of data and a range of useful references are shared.
Conclusion(s): Physiotherapists should place quality of care - and patient safety in particular - at the top of their priorities for investment, inquiry, improvement, regular reporting, encouragement and support. It is crucial to keep listening to and measuring patient experience and staff engagement and acting on what we hear.
Implications: Listening to, learning from and respecting feedback from patients on their healthcare experience and aspirations using a wide variety of techniques are essential components for the provision of a patient-centred, high-quality, and above all, safe service.
Funding acknowledgements: Not applicable
Topic: Professional issues
Ethics approval: Not applicable
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
