Patient centred care
patient added: “Not knowing what to expect, I attended with unknown expectations. Firstly, the atmosphere and camaraderie engendered was much appreciated. I was certainly surprised at the size of the venture, but your team ascertained that everyone felt comfortable and had opportunity to voice any concerns and also gleaned much information and further guidance through our knee/ hip rehabilitation journey. The afternoon was a great success and I, for one, found it informative, reassuring, and enjoyable. Well done and thank you.”
Looking beyond the feedback What’s been wonderful, having run this programme since day one, is the unexpected outcomes we’ve witnessed from the Coffee Catch Up sessions. During one session a group of four men were reunited who had all been on the same ward following their joint replacements. All keen golfers, after chatting they swapped numbers and set up a golfing group together. During another Coffee Catch Up there were two ladies not particularly fond of WhatsApp groups who decided to swap numbers and promise to meet up regularly for coffee and a face-to-face chat. As medical professionals, we’re not always
treating the physical; what’s going on in our minds plays a part in our recovery too. And for some patients, isolation and feeling separated from others can happen – especially if a patient has been immobile for a while before getting their joint replacement and therefore has lost touch with some of their friends. These Coffee Catch Ups are sometimes the spark for getting patients to socialise more and put themselves
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out there more. We’ve had several people sign up as hospital volunteers on the back of these sessions, and a few others join our patient engagement group. It’s wonderful to see their confidence return.
In addition, the benefit moves beyond
direct patient benefits too – we know that an engaged staff group who are fulfilled in their roles deliver better patient care. In simple terms, the Coffee Catch Ups remind staff why we do what we do. Particularly for non-clinical staff who may not normally get a chance to speak to patients but who have a role to play in delivering hospital services. It also generates ideas for improvement – staff are more motivated to make changes happen when they can connect it to something more personal like a specific patient. It’s also an excellent forum for any questions staff may have, for example specific questions about their service, or even the research team using the sessions to gain feedback on research studies.
So, what does the future hold? This approach is set to be replicated at other Trusts across the UK but, as the pathway and coffee catch-up sessions require resources and ample time commitment to get up and running, implementation is likely to take several months. We’re working with other Trusts and sharing our recommendations to support with this process. We’d also like to broaden the sessions to include pre-operative patients, but this does prove challenging with increased numbers. We can see the benefit of these patients getting a real insight into the process from patients who have already been through the JointCare journey. For
now, we’re continuing to carry out our Coffee Catch Ups every other month and look forward to each opportunity to gather with our patients and listen to their valuable feedback.
CSJ
About the author
Alicia Stanton qualified as a physiotherapist in 2006 and moved into orthopaedics as a specialty early in her career. She’s worked at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital for over 10 years and has also been a part of ROCS (Royal Orthopaedic Community Service), a team that provides care for patients at home following orthopaedic surgery. Alicia now splits her time between clinical practice and leading the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital’s service improvement work as Head of Service Improvement. Alicia delivers QSIR training (Quality, Service Improvement and Redesign), an NHS programme focused on helping staff across the NHS improve their services.
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