Patient Experiences – Lancashire & South Cumbria Library Blog

The Lancashire Health Hub

Helping patients find trusted information

We have been lucky enough to work with some local NHS Foundation Trusts and the public libraries to develop an online website focusing on good quality health care information.

Home

The Lancashire Health Hub is designed to signpost patients to trusted and reliable medical support- explaining who and what services are available to them, links to local services and trusted resources including apps and guides.

You can also download an easy read version of the information to share alongside the virtual content.

Please take a look and share with friends, families and colleagues.

British Medical Association Report

The country is getting sicker: The urgent need to address growing health inequalities and protect our health in the face of an economic crisis.

This report contains anonymous testimonials from doctors, patients,
and carers across the UK about their experiences of a country that is
getting sicker in the face of an economic crisis.

Read the report here.

Public Health

Current Awareness Updates

#HealthNow Literature review update: how has patient experience changed for people who are homeless?
Groundswell; 2022.
(People experiencing homelessness face significant health inequalities. They encounter barriers to accessing the health care they need and often have poor experiences of engaging with health care services. This report examines research published since the Groundswell 2020 #HealthNow literature review and outlines the findings from its five #HealthNow research reports.)

Health disparities and health inequalities: applying All Our Health.
Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID); 2022.
(Evidence and information for health and care professionals and the wider workforce on health disparities and health inequalities, and how they can be addressed. This resource will help frontline professionals and organisations use their trusted relationships with individuals, families and communities to address the impact of health disparities and health inequalities on groups or populations. We also recommend important actions that managers and staff holding strategic roles can take.)

National Audit of Dementia: Memory Assessment Services Spotlight Audit 2021.
Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP); 2022.
(The National Audit of Dementia (NAD) is a clinical audit programme commissioned by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership on behalf of NHS England and the Welsh Government. In 2019 we undertook an audit of community-based memory assessment services in England and Wales.)

World Mental Health Day: rising cost of living and mental health.
House of Commons Library; 2022.
(Our mental health can change depending on our financial situation and it’s thought this relationship works in both directions: suffering financial losses or living in poverty can worsen mental health; people with mental health conditions may end up in poverty or suffer financial loss because of their illness, for example, if they are not able to work. Financial difficulties and problem debt are also associated with suicidal thoughts and dying by suicide.)

Valuing health: why prioritising population health is essential to prosperity.
British Medical Association (BMA); 2022.
(This report calls on the government to consider the health of the population as crucial to sustainable economic growth, rather than being dependent on a prosperous economy. Raising alarm about rapidly declining population health and widening health inequalities, the report identifies that the nation is facing a ‘ticking time-bomb’ of ill health with current government policies insufficient to meet the scale of the challenge.)

Bereavement is everyone’s business.
The UK Commission on Bereavement; 2022.
(This report shows how bereavement impacts us all. From dealing with complicated administration, to coping with financial and housing insecurity, it explores the challenges of returning to work or school after a bereavement and highlights the challenges being bereaved throws up in every area of life.)

The Patients Association

Shared decision making from the perspective of clinicians and healthcare professionals

Source: The King’s Fund

This report finds health care professionals are positive about shared decision-making – a way of working with patients to decide treatment options. But the report also finds professionals’ ability to practice shared decision-making regularly is limited by the current crisis in the NHS. The report makes a number of recommendations and The Patients Association will now look to partner with NHS England, the Personalised Care Institute and other organisations to support professionals’ call for more support to practice shared decision-making.

Digital Health

Supporting patients

Source: The King’s Fund

Putting patients first: championing good practice in combatting digital health inequalities

This report focuses on digital health inequalities and the impact that digital exclusion is having on health in the UK. It highlights different reasons for disparities in a person’s ability to access and use digital health technology and provides insights into the severity of the UK’s digital inequalities. It looks at four case studies demonstrating unique ways to combat digital health inequalities and improve access, and use of digital health technology for patients.

Patient engagement with digital health care: lessons from the Care City test bed

Health apps and digital tools have the potential to help alleviate some of the huge pressures the NHS faces from Covid-19, the backlog of care and rising demand. But introducing these tools into health care and supporting people to use them is never a quick fix, and they will not work for everyone. This summary provides a set of lessons for ensuring digital health innovations are applied in optimal ways for the people using them. The findings are based on a large-scale evaluation of digital technologies being implemented in health and social care in east London.

Covid 19

Current awareness updates

Designated settings for people discharged to a care home.
Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC); 2022.
[Guidance on the designated settings scheme for people discharged from hospital to a care home with a positive coronavirus (COVID-19) test (UPDATED: 07 February 2022 The ‘designated settings’ guidance has been updated throughout in line with the latest clinical advice from UKHSA. This update reflects the change in isolation period in care settings from 14 to 10 days for cases of COVID-19. It also provides information on how individuals can end their isolation before day 10)]

Patient experience before the omicron wave: the storm before the storm.
Patients Association; 2022.
[This report, based on a survey of more than 1,000 UK patients conducted over a month just before Christmas 2021, finds the disruption to health and care services caused by the pandemic is profound and long-term.]

COVID-19 Schools Infection Survey, England: attitudes to vaccines and preventative measures, November to December 2021.
Office for National Statistics (ONS); 2022.
[Initial insights from the first round of questionnaire data collected as part of the Schools Infection Survey. Questionnaires are completed by parents of participating children, secondary school aged children and headteachers. Topics cover vaccine sentiment, ventilation in schools and preventative measures implemented in schools.]

Webinar

Keeping The Clinician By The Bedside

Source: National Health Executive

Watch the recording of this webinar from NHE’s Finger on the Pulse podcast. It features Will Warburton from the Health Foundation and Dr Shanti Vijayaraghavan and the focus is on the ability to provide results and support virtually to patients, without an in-person visit, allowing much greater convenience for patients.