Do it our way...or go away!

A week or so back we did one of our Impact Workshops with staff from Nottinghamshire Health Care to explore with them how they could get maximum value from Patient Opinion. Thanks to their enthusiasm it was a great day and I think we all got a long way. One of the things we did was to invite them to tell a story of their own and to think about the kind of responses that they would like to receive as patient or carer.

Of course this generated a range of stories about health care across Nottinghamshire from GPs to acute trusts and everything in between. A week later and we’re beginning to get responses from the local providers all of which is food for thought.

Firstly I think it was really valuable – as it always is – for people to experience what it is like as patients as well as staff. Getting people to write stories is a great way to put them in touch with what ‘patients and carers’ - that’s all of us when we’re not getting paid – really want.

Secondly it was great to see so many responses from so many providers.

Finally looking at the responses made me realise once again just how self absorbed the NHS often is. Here’s an example of what I mean:

Recently attended gynae with my wife to have the devastating news that she had miscarried again. Even though this was early stages and common, we were made to feel it's just nature. My nursing background and experience accepts this. However not so for my wife. The news was devastating as her hopes had been shattered again.

In the consultation follow up by the nurse I felt she was just ticking the boxes. There was some empathy "I think" but it felt it was all a matter of course. The experience left us both numb with a bitter taste. I feel this outcome will make the next experience even more stressful if bad news is received again.

This is how the acute trust responded:

I understand that this must be an extremely upsetting and distressing time for both you and your wife. I would like us to look into the concerns you have raised fully and properly. Without knowing the full details we are unable to do so. Please could you make contact with me directly

I'm not picking on this trust in particular as in many ways this is a thoughtful response. It is also typical of what many trusts do. But in effect it is saying 'do it our way or we can't help you'.

From the general public’s point of view it is also confusing: given that the problem is clearly stated – this couple felt a lack of sensitivity in dealing with their miscarriage – why do you need any more information? Surely the thing to do is simply to take this story to a team meeting and spend 15 minutes really discussing it. What must the couple have felt like? What kind of words might staff have used? How could we do this better? How would we ourselves like to be treated if we’d just miscarried? And then post an authentic, human account of this discussion as the response from this team does.

Moving away from ‘who, what, when’ to ‘let’s get on with doing this better’ strengthens teams rather than focussing on blame. It also frees the NHS to take responsibility for actively improving itself without asking the patient for yet more help. Being patient-centred is not about insisting things have to be done the NHS way. It’s about delighting patients and families by really listening to them, learning from them and then responding with both heart and head.

[If you’d like to know more about our Impact Workshops do get in touch with us]