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Showing results for tags 'Communication'.
Found 1,234 results
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Content ArticlePsychological safety is the belief that you won’t be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes. This article by the Center for Creative Leadership explores why psychological safety is so important to foster in workplaces. It suggests eight steps toward creating more psychological safety at work and describes the four stages of psychological safety.
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Content ArticleIn this interview with the publisher Bloomsbury, freelance health journalist and founder of the Hysterical Women blog Sarah Graham talks about her book, Rebel Bodies: A guide to the gender health gap revolution. She discusses the recurrent themes she came across in her work as a health journalist which inspired her to set up her blog: women's experiences of gaslighting, dismissal and disbelief by the medical system. Sarah talks about how her book aims to bring together all the stories and ideas she has worked on for the last five or so years and highlight how closely they’re linked. The book also celebrates the resilience, determination, sisterhood and solidarity Sarah has witnessed from patient advocates and campaigners across the sphere of women’s health and trans health. Read Sarah's 2020 blog, Gender bias: A threat to women’s health, on the hub.
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Content ArticleInadequate hand-off communication from hospital to skilled nursing facility (SNF) hinders SNF nurses’ ability to prepare for specific patient needs, including prescriptions for critical medications, such as controlled medications and intravenous (IV) antibiotics, resulting in delayed medication administration. This project, published in Patient Safety, aims to improve hand-off communication from hospital to SNF by utilising a standardised hand-off tool. Authors conclude that the use of standardised hand-off resulted in improved communication during the hospital-to-SNF hand-off and significantly decreased the wait time for the availability of prescriptions for controlled medications and IV antibiotics. Integrating standardised hand-off into the SNF policies can help sustain improved communication, medication management, and patient transition from hospital to SNF.
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Content ArticleThis research by the Nuffield Trust looked at how smaller hospitals have fared over the pandemic. Smaller hospitals are sometimes overlooked when system planning gets done, so this report focuses on the operational responses and management approaches taken by staff from 10 smaller hospitals over the course of the first and second waves of the pandemic. It aims to tell the stories of those working in small hospitals in order to understand what happened to acute and emergency care in these institutions during the pandemic. The authors interviewed staff in smaller hospitals around the country during 2021 to understand their key concerns. The report makes a set of recommendations for future crisis planning and response.
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Content ArticleOn the 5 February 2020 an inquest was opened into the death of Hayley Smith. The jury concluded on 9 March 2022 with a narrative conclusion “The deceased died from complications of anorexia nervosa.” Hayley had developed severe and enduring anorexia nervosa at around the age of nine or ten and was resistant to treatment including several hospital admissions both voluntary, and at times compulsory treatment under the Mental Health Act. She was repeatedly admitted to hospital. On the 23 December 2019 Hayley had not eaten, became confused and unwell, and an ambulance was called. The correct emergency treatment was provided but Hayley responded quickly and regained consciousness and refused further treatment or admission to hospital. On 24 December she became unwell again and this time was taken to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother hospital where she again refused treatment and discharged herself against medical advice. The responsible medical officer from the Kent Eating disorder team gave evidence that had the team known of either of these episodes they would have taken steps to admit her and treat her.] On Christmas Day 2019 she collapsed for a final time and this time, had an out of hospital cardiac arrest, and was admitted to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother hospital and transferred to Intensive care where she was diagnosed as suffering from hypoxic brain damage as a result of her cardiac arrest due to severe hypoglycaemia as a consequence of her Anorexia Nervosa. She died on 29 December 2019 at the age of 27.
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Content ArticleIn this blog for Medpage Today, US doctor Diane Solomon talks about the power of apologising to patients. Outlining the tendency of healthcare professionals to defend their practice, she describes how being honest and open with patients about errors demonstrates humanity and compassion. She talks about the importance of being sincere when apologising and outlines how taking responsibility builds trust and can positively change future outcomes.
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Content Article
This is part of our series of Patient Safety Spotlight interviews, where we talk to people working for patient safety about their role and what motivates them. Ian talks to us about rebuilding patient trust in the healthcare system, how the Private Healthcare Information Network (PHIN) is helping to improve decision making for patients in the private sector, and why recognising the link between physical and mental health is vital to patient safety. -
Content ArticleThis report commissioned by the NHS Confederation and written by the Centre for Mental Health sets out a vision for what mental health, autism and learning disability services in England should look like in ten years’ time. It brings together research and engagement with a wide range of stakeholders including people who bring personal and professional experience. The report identifies ten interconnecting themes that underpin the vision and three key requirements that would turn the vision into reality.
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This online comic has been developed by the Royal College of Anaesthetists and the Association of Paediatric Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland to help children aged 7-11 understand what it’s like to have a general anaesthetic, using familiar Beano characters to help reduce any anxiety they may have about surgery. It is a fun and playful way to help children understand more about their operation and how to prepare for it, and includes links to other resources. Readers can accompany Dennis on a fun-filled journey as he prepares to have his tonsils removed, from diagnosis to discharge from hospital. The comic answers children's questions, including: what is a general anaesthetic and is it safe? how will I feel when I wake up? how can I prepare for my operation? what should I do if I am worried or have questions? 'Dennis has an anaesthetic' will also help children and their parents and carers understand what happens in the run-up to an operation, the care children will need afterwards and how they can best prepare. -
Content Article
HSIB: Safety investigation jargon buster
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in HSSIB investigations
A guide to the terms commonly used in safety investigations and their definitions. -
Content ArticleRegina Kamoga, Executive Director of the Community Health And Information Network (CHAIN) in Uganda, delivered this presentation to the 6th Annual Pharmacovigilance Stakeholder Meeting on 30 November 2022. The presentation outlines how CHAIN is working to develop and support expert patients and patient groups in underserved communities in Africa, as well as highlighting the key medication safety issues faced by these communities, including low health literacy, poor reporting culture and healthcare worker knowledge gaps. The presentation then looks at how CHAIN implemented the World Health Organization's (WHO) Global Patient Safety Challenge in Ugandan communities through patient engagement and healthcare worker education. To conclude the presentation, Regina makes recommendations to improve medication safety: Sustain advocacy for medication safety and become a voice to the voiceless Adopt a culture of safety that incorporates the patient as a care team member not a perceived receiver of care Build and strengthen networks on patient safety Communication and open discussion between healthcare providers and patients to improve patient doctor relationship Increase collaboration with civil society organisations and patient organisations Adopt Start Early In Life initiative to instil a safety culture early in life Establish medication safety multidisciplinary working group Patient, family and community engagement should be at the core of key stakeholders interventions
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Content ArticleCancer Research UK, in partnership with London-based tech company Stitch, are piloting an app for patients to use whilst participating in a clinical trial. The Trialmap app, which was co-created with patients, is being piloted on a clinical trial run by Cancer Research UK’s Centre for Drug Development. The aim of the app is to ensure patients feel valued for their participation, and to improve patient experience during clinical trials. This article looks at how the app: allows patients to easily view information about the trial gives reminders about appointments and what patients might need to do to prepare for them gives patients the opportunity to provide real-time feedback regarding their time on the trial.
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Content ArticleIn this article, published by Patient Satisfaction News, author Sarah Heath argues that more needs to be done to address the power imbalance between patients and providers. She discusses the dangers of a paternalistic approach and why patient engagement and shared decision making is key to patient safety.
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Content ArticleThis editorial by Barbara Fain, Chief Executive of the Betsy Lehman Center in Massachusetts, highlights the need to focus on system safety and moving away from a culture of individual blame, in order to improve patient safety. Referring to the case of nurse RaDonda Vaught who was convicted of negligent homicide for a medication error at a Tennessee hospital, Barbara looks at research that demonstrates that people generally believe the best way to reduce the likelihood of medical errors is by choosing the right doctor, and argues that this cultural belief played into Vaught's conviction. She highlights the need to use evidence-based strategies to communicate with healthcare professionals and the public about the wider picture of patient safety and systems thinking.
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Content ArticleTracey Herlihey, head of patient safety incident response policy, in the NHS England national patient safety team, is joined by Vicky Ainsworth, a communications lead at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust and Stuart Kaill, from Health Innovation Manchester, to discuss ways of communicating about large scale change projects in NHS organisations. The podcast explores Vicky’s experience of leading on communications for a large scale change project in Manchester, with a specific focus on sharing advice and suggestions relating to communicating the changes related to the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF). It includes expert tips on how to communicate large scale change to different audiences as well as within both large and small organisations.
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Content Article'What the HealthTech?' is a podcast from Radar Healthcare. A platform for professionals in health and social care to have open discussions on creating change, tackling challenges and making an impact on people’s lives. Each week Radar Healthcare talk to industry leaders, organisations making a difference and their team of experts to share ideas and learnings with you.
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Content ArticleThis report published by the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD) assesses the quality of care provided to adult patients with a pre-existing epilepsy disorder, or who were subsequently diagnosed with epilepsy and presented to hospital following a seizure, between 1 January and 31 December 2020.
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Content ArticleThis US study in the journal Medical Care aimed to investigate the extent of physician practice adoption of patient engagement strategies nationally. The authors analysed data collected from the National Survey of Healthcare Organizations and Systems (NSHOS) on adoption of patient engagement strategies. They found that there was modest adoption of shared decision-making and motivational interviewing, and low adoption of shared medical appointments.
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Content ArticleThis report by the Beryl Institute and Ipsos explores the core trends impacting healthcare and patient experience overall in the United States. It highlights key issues expressed by consumers in an online survey relating to quality of care and experience of care, taking into account the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and how it has altered the delivery of healthcare.
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Content ArticleThis video by the NHS England National Patient Safety Team provides tips for patients on keeping safe during a hospital stay. It highlights simple things you can do as a patient to help keep yourself safe during a hospital stay, such as asking for help when needed, protecting yourself from slips and falls and helping to prevent blood clots. A British Sign Language (BSL) version of the video is also available, as well as a leaflet translated into these languages: English Arabic Cantonese French Gujarati Mandarin Polish Portuguese Punjabi Romanian Spanish Urdu
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Content ArticleThis report by the Harmed Patients Alliance (HPA) explores the needs of injured patients and their loved ones for independent advocacy, advice and information when they have been involved in patient safety incidents that are believed to have led to harm. It examines the extent to which this is available or resourced, and aims to stimulate and inform a national discussion about this issue in England among key stakeholders. It looks at the historical context and the moral and economic arguments and implications of resourcing these kinds of services.
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Content ArticleThe Patients Association has been working with NHS England to look at how to improve GP referrals of patients to hospital. The goal was to look at ways specialists could support GPs so they could reduce the number of outpatient appointments patients have to attend, without compromising care. This report includes an overview of the patient panel workshops, key themes and findings from the workshops, and a set of recommendations.
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Content ArticleThis blog by a UK-based dentist, who blogs under the name Fang Farrier, highlights the dangers of popular media presenting rumour about dentistry services as fact. She refers to an incident where a presenter on the TV show Good Morning Britain said that NHS doctors were no longer trained to be able to perform tooth extractions, describing it as a "categorical fact [presented] by a private dentist." The blog highlights four related issues concerning public perception of dentists, dentistry training and the impact of fear of complaints and litigation on NHS dentistry services: We need to be more mindful about how we talk about dentistry, particularly other dentists Our new graduates seem to be graduating with less experience and less confidence in most procedures, most notably extractions and root canal Fear of failure and taking risks The NHS question… will it stay or will it go?
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Content ArticleModern healthcare is burgeoning with patient centred rhetoric where physicians “share power” equally in their interactions with patients. However, how physicians actually conceptualise and manage their power when interacting with patients remains unexamined in the literature. This study from Laura Nimmon and Terese Stenfors-Hayes explored how power is perceived and exerted in the physician-patient encounter from the perspective of experienced physicians. Although the “sharing of power” is an overarching goal of modern patient-centred healthcare, this study highlighted how this concept does not fully capture the complex ways experienced physicians perceive, invoke, and redress power in the clinical encounter. Based on the insights, the authors suggest that physicians learn to enact ethical patient-centered therapeutic communication through reflective, effective, and professional use of power in clinical encounters.
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Content ArticleTeamwork is critical in delivering quality medical care, and failures in team communication and coordination are substantial contributors to medical errors. This study in JAMA Internal Medicine aimed to determine the effectiveness of increased familiarity between medical resident doctors and nurses on team performance, psychological safety and communication. The authors found that increased familiarity between nurses and residents promoted rapid improvement of nursing perception of team relationships and, over time, led to higher team performance on complex cognitive tasks in medical simulations. They argue that medical systems should consider increasing team familiarity as a way to improve doctor-nursing teamwork and patient care.
