What matters to patients?

ABC radio interview with Dr Lynne Maher

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/lifematters/what-matters-to-patients/4256260

Dr Lynne Maher is a critical care nurse by profession, and now works as the Director for Innovation and Design, NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement in the United Kingdom.

Health services both in the UK and here in Australia are using the patient engagement platform Patient Opinion to receive feedback about the patient experience and what matters to them.

Lynne makes a good point when she says that clinicians know what matters to patients, just from a different perspective, and sometimes it is not what actually matters to the patient. Often issues like processes and risk management are at the forefront of what many clinicians perceive to be of high importance to the patient and what matters most to them. However, from the patient’s perspective the most important issues appear to be about communication and how involved they feel in the decision making process and if they felt they were treated like a person as opposed to just another number. Not to say that a clinician’s perspective is wrong but perhaps itneeds to be more balanced with their patient’s perception of care. As Lynne mentions, health professionals also need to recognise the expertise that patients and their families bring to healthcare, especially patientswith cancer and others suffering from chronic disease.

Health services receive complaints as well as compliments however, what is of concern to many patients, who use this formal process, is the treatment of their complaint or compliment. How do they know what happens to their feedback? In the case of a complaint to a health service how can the patient believe that the incident in question won’t happen again? How can clinicians and health services learn from each other about the ‘patient experience’?

The power for the patient voice to be heard lies in having a platform that allows transparency and an opportunity for health services to be fearless in publicly addressing concerns and telling their patients in an open forum that they are listening and value their feedback (good or bad). When the service truly engages with their patients in a non-confrontational environment, patients have tangible evidence that they are being listened to. This online form of engagement can be a scary prospect for the health service but pales in comparison to the angst a vulnerable patient might feel when addressing issues on a personal level with the health service.

There is no shame in recognising that service can be improved, it is how that recognition is managed and communicated to the patient that gives credibility to the organisation. More importantly, we all need validation and patients are no different in wanting their voice to be heard and their concerns, no matter how big or small, taken seriously and used to improve health services.