Q Exchange
Creatively engaging with patients and carers to transform outpatients
- Proposal
- 2019
Meet the team
Also:
- ArtCare
What is the challenge your project is going to address and how does it connect to your chosen theme?
An Ipsos MORI poll for the King’s Fund (2017) showed that 56% of the population trusted health professionals to make decisions about local services with only 14% wanting to be more involved. Traditional public meetings may therefore not provide the hoped-for outcome as the views that are heard may only involve those who want to be actively involved. Traditional ways of holding listening events may also offer barriers to attending, particularly if those you want to involve work full time, have a caring commitment, are at extremes of age or have a physical/mental disability that prevents or hinders them attending in person. The answer is to use insight and feedback from users, using a range of qualitative and quantitative approaches over a period of time. This project will explore alternative ways of engagement and bring all the emerging themes together; share them widely and work with a group of patients to co-design and transform the traditional outpatient departments.
What does your project aim to achieve?
This project is running alongside another project looking at transforming the way that outpatient services are delivered in eight clinical specialties.
The aim of this project is to ensure that patients and carers voices are heard and to ensure that, as far as possible, those who do not traditionally get involved are given the opportunity to tell their stories and give their feedback. Ideas that we have had thus far are sponsored coffee morning meetings in local churches, going out and about in the library buses, hooking up with the local ‘men’s sheds’ and holding plant and seed swap meetings with local allotment societies.
ArtCare, our arts in health charity are key partners in this project.
The benefit of this project is that the improvements that patients, carers and the general public want to see made can be built-in and not strapped on!
How will the project be delivered?
The project team includes: Q members, patients, PALS , clinicians, Programme Management Officers, therapists and non-clinical staff members.
QI methodology will be used but we will also PRINCE2 methodology to manage identified risks and emerging issues.
We will work with existing networks (for example our Foundation Membership, HealthWatch, local charitable organisations, local schools and our AHSN).
Patients/carers/general public who wish to get more involved will help us test solutions/ideas as they emerge.
What and how is your project going to share learning throughout?
Themes, reflections and learning will be shared with all stakeholders on a newly designed website and shared more widely using social media and more traditional communication channels.
We are very lucky to have an in-house ‘art in health service’ – ArtCare. Their links to the local community are very different from the traditional clinical networks and their alternative-thinking heads will help us deliver this project creatively!
How you can contribute
- We would love some ideas as to how we can engage with traditionally ‘hard to reach’ groups so that this piece of work is truly reflective of our local population. No idea is too small or wacky!
- Are there any communication channels that we can tap into to share our learning?
Plan timeline
| 31 Jul 2019 | identify traditional and non-traditional networks |
|---|---|
| 31 Aug 2019 | Define a programme of events |
| 31 Aug 2019 | Explore non-traditional networks |
| 31 Aug 2019 | identify and book venues for meetings |
| 30 Sep 2019 | Share learning and communicate lessons learned |
| 30 Sep 2019 | start identifying improvements to be tested |
| 30 Sep 2019 | start workshops |
| 30 Sep 2019 | submit plan for website |
| 31 Oct 2019 | identify key stakeholders |
| 31 Oct 2019 | share emerging themes with project group |
| 31 Oct 2019 | start to go out and about creatively |
| 31 Dec 2019 | identify improvements/changes |
| 31 Jan 2020 | test improvements via PDSA cycles |
| 31 Oct 2020 | Publish engagement website |
Comments
Charlie Sharp 22 Jul 2019
I would be interested to hear how you are planning to approach identifying patients with whom to engage. Have you any ideas for the perenially insoluble challenge of getting to the hard to reach patients in areas of higher deprivation?
Katrina Glaister 22 Jul 2019
Hi Charlie
I think the approach I'd like to take is rather than identifying patients I'd like to engage with, I'll take some different approaches to getting out and about (for example the Library buses, mens' sheds and allotment/gardening groups) and see who would like to engage with me. I'm taking an educated guess that using these non-traditional methods I will find some non-traditional (aka hard to reach) patients!
Sarah Campbell 26 Jun 2019
Thanks, Katrina and Louise. Another great idea starting from a point of co-production. Glad one of the other teams has already made contact as this really is a defining feature of the ideas so far and I hope you can all connect and help shape up proposals.
Non-traditional networks is such a great term. Do you think that you'd like to focus on a particular group at present or is that too limiting at this stage?
Katrina Glaister 26 Jun 2019
I am not too sure to be honest Sarah. I guess that I would be very confident to hold a 'traditional' stakeholder event that would be well attended but those attending will fit a particular sub-population group and not necessarily be representative of the whole population (ie would represent the 14% of the population who would traditionally get involved). So, for example, in our area the military are a huge presence but they are pretty difficult to engage with using our traditional networks; only by thinking laterally (and moving laterally) will we be able to hear their voices. I would very much welcome your thoughts as to whether I should be limiting my focus!
Helen Davies-cox 26 Jun 2019
Fabulous idea and there are similarities with our project, perhaps we can share learning and insights.
Let's connect!
Helen
Katrina Glaister 26 Jun 2019
Yes, let's do that Helen!
Louise Arnett 25 Jun 2019
As part of this programme we are looking to offer patients alternatives to traditional outpatient appointments recognising that traditional face to face appointments in a hospital setting is not always best for the patient. We are looking to develop new ways of working such as video consultation, group education outpatient clinics; expanding multi-professional clinics and one stop services and offering patients more access to Patient Initiated Follow ups and more online information leaflets. We'd also like to explore use of apps for self management of care. We are working with our community partners to off patients access to services closer to home. We need to get these new services right for the patient and so this idea is a core part of creating a patient community for transformation to help us co-design services and develop new pathways which work for the patients! We are very excited about creating a approach to co-design with patients, rather than the traditional model of using surveys for feedback. We'd love to hear comments from others who have done this and how we could shape our idea further.
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