Comment

NHS trusts rise to the challenge to improve patient experience

Sam Hudson, head of experience and engagement at the NHS Institute reports on the NHS Patient Feedback Challenge, a one-year programme designed to find and spread great approaches which use feedback from patients to improve services.

An understanding of patient experience can be achieved through a range of activities that capture direct feedback from patients, service users, carers and wider communities. This ‘data’ can be used alongside information on clinical outcomes and other intelligence to inform quality improvements and the reshaping of services. Understanding what it feels like to be on the receiving end of your service means that services can do more of what patients value, and less of what they don’t.

The programme is about spreading evidence based practice

The NHS Patient Feedback Challenge was created to enable investment in the spread and adoption of techniques that we know work – it is about services getting on and doing what works, at scale.

Since April, people have been collaborating, sharing ideas, building projects and bidding for a share of the £1m Challenge fund. This has been facilitated by the use of online networking, via a web channel. Web channel users were challenged to present their ideas in a way that would attract interest, chat and voting facilities were available, and this online activity was taken into account when choosing which projects to support.

There are currently over 2,000 members of the web channel and 143 original ideas were shared. In addition, all project reporting will be via the web channel, each project will host its own profile and recruit followers. This will mean that the project reporting is transparent to a wider community and it opens up opportunities for further spread of good practice.

A range of projects have been selected

We have selected nine projects, all focused on using feedback to directly improve the experience for patients and their families, and have detailed plans for how they will spread excellent practice.

Projects are as follows:

• Valuing Frontline Feedback – Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• Patient Partners – Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Trust
• Patient and Family Echo – East Cheshire NHS Trust
• Both Sides Now – NHS North East London and the City
• Improving Healthcare Together – Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• Partnerships inspiring changes to services, culture and lives – Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust
• Kinda Magic – Peninsula Community Health CIC
• Real Time Patient Stories – South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• iCARE – Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

The range of diversity of both feedback technique and care setting within the projects is fantastic. Some focus on getting feedback from ‘seldom heard’ groups of the population, others on staff involvement in improving experience and many have formed interesting cross-sector partnerships.

The Valuing Frontline Feedback project at Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is an example of an initiative aiming to create a culture where patient feedback is actively sought by empowered staff, who are motivated to engage with patients in order to improve patient experience. The programme involves providing staff with the opportunity to listen to the experience of patients, relatives or carers first hand, to really step into the patient’s shoes. The Trust will work with up to three NHS providers to spread the approach and expertise they have accumulated.

We won’t pretend that this will be easy

The feedback challenge projects are working to extremely tight deadlines and in a changing NHS landscape. The NHS Institute and partners will provide a wide range of learning opportunities as needed by the teams. This development started before the bids were even submitted at two ‘hot house’ events where ideas were challenged, support given and networks enhanced. Each project has been encouraged to have a lead NHS organisation, spread partners and specialist collaborators from in or outside of the NHS to support the innovation. This has fostered some interesting partnerships, many of which emerged from the online engagement.

We need to make it easy for people to give their views, and this programme is enabling NHS services to share what they do, that works well, to new settings so that more and more people can be on the receiving end of excellent care.

Tell us what you think – have your say below, or email us directly at [email protected]