Making sure patients have a positive experience is of utmost importance to North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust, with a positive patient experience every time being one of the key principles of Our NCIC way.
To enhance the patient feedback loop already in place, where the patient experience team receive a lot of feedback, patient story boards have been introduced to chart the patient’s journey which considers a range things such as confidence and trust, feeling safe, noise at night and thoughts about the people caring for them.
The feedback received is displayed in the relevant area and is used by the teams to make improvements to the care provided.
Beech B – at the Cumberland Infirmary - was one ward that received a storyboard. The patient interviewed on this occasion said staff on the ward were “spot on” and that the food was “delicious”. On cleanliness they said they were “impressed” and on confidence and trust they said they had 100 per cent confidence in the staff treating them. They rated their overall experience as eight out of 10.
Sylvia Atherton, Patient Experience Manager at NCIC, explained that patient care co-ordinators visit different parts of the organisation regularly asking 15 questions about various aspects of their care. She said: “When the team visit the wards/departments to collect face to face feedback, they usually receive a lot of comments from patients so we decided develop a patient story board to tell the story of their care.
“If the ward get enough comments from one patient then they will receive a patient story board – these are anonymous.
“It’s not just wards, we have also been supporting the respiratory outpatient physiotherapy team with collecting feedback from patients who have had COVID-19 and we present this in a patient story board too.” A patient there said all the staff he had come into contact with had been “unbelievable”, and that he would give them 10 out of 10 for kindness and compassion.
He added that the doctors and nurses were “great” and treated him with “so much respect”. He concluded: “I can’t praise the hospital, facilities and staff highly enough.”
The Special Care Baby Unit was one ward that received a visit. A new mum there said: “It’s been a positive experience as the ward staff are brilliant at looking after your babies for you. They’re doing a brilliant job of just coming in everyday during the current situation and I can’t fault them for that.”
One patient who suffered from 25 years of continuous back pain, sciatica and shooting pains attended the Physiotherapy Service at Maryport Hospital.
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He said: “The physiotherapist was different to anyone I had met before through the NHS. They patiently listened to my view, accurately assessed the problem and took time to explain in detail what they suspected was the cause of the problem. |
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“I would like to share my huge appreciation for the physiotherapists professionalism. They had patience, understanding, ability, knowledge, confidence, and bravery to take responsibility of dealing with my problem as and how they felt appropriate.” |
Of course, sometimes the feedback is not good and this allow steps to be taken to rectify this.
Sylvia said: “A patient complained that they couldn’t read the vaccine form that they were required to complete due to it being photocopied that many times and it was on a slant. One of the operational leads was informed and they asked the staff not to photocopy the forms.
“Another patient raised a concern regarding the cardiology waiting list – they were referred to Newcastle for their procedure and they are now receiving this in the next couple of weeks.”
Sylvia added: “A member of my team recently visited Haverigg Prison and spoke with some of the men to collect their feedback on the healthcare they receive. We will present their feedback in the same format and again it will be used to make any identified improvements.”
Any team interested in having a storyboard for their area should contact the PALS team PALS@ncic.nhs.uk