Annual Report 2004-2005:Putting Patients First
Putting patients first
The Patients' Panel
Patients' views
Bereavement
Voluntary Services
Patient & Public
Involvement
Consultation with local
groups and organisations
Download
a printable version of the Trust's 2004/05 Annual Report
The Patients' Panel & Representatives
The Trust's Patients' Panel was established three years ago and it has continued to play an active part in the Trust. This year Gerald Bordell, who chaired the Panel for over two years, stood down and Jessie Winyard took up the reins. There are seven members in total who, together with the Trust's 50 patient representatives, ensure that as many patients and relatives as possible are involved in the work of the Trust and its plans for the future.
The Panel
sits on many Trust committees including Clinical Governance
and Drugs and Therapeutics and assesses all patient
information prior to publication.
The Panel also holds regular 'surgeries' at Watford, Hemel & St Albans Hospitals. This is a way of the Panel meeting patients and members of the public whilst they are waiting in Outpatient Departments or at the tea bars.
Through meetings of the Patient Experience Group, made up of members of the Trust's Patients' Panel, Patient Forum and frontline staff, patients and staff give their views on patient information and develop ideas for improving the patient experience. The Patients Panel and Patient Representatives regularly assist in short ad-hoc patient surveys and recording patient journeys and stories, to highlight areas for improvement.
For further information about the Panel or Patient and Public Involvement please contact Lesley Lopez on 01442 287656 or email lesley.lopez@whht.nhs.uk
Patients give their views
The views of our patients are taken very seriously. The Trust took part in the Healthcare Commission's annual patient surveys, which asked 850 patients about their experiences of Accident & Emergency & Outpatients Departments. Patients using outpatients and A&E wanted to know if they were going to be delayed, about any tests or treatment they might need and what this might involve. Those using outpatients also told us that they found somewhere to park easily. The Trust is working to address weaknesses found in the survey.
Through Barry's Eyes
Frontline health and care staff, modern matrons, trainers and mainstream health professionals were among the guests at a 'film premiere' of 'Through Barry's Eyes' – a moving film that tells the story of a young man with learning disabilities who was admitted to hospital after a fall. The video is part of a comprehensive training pack commissioned by the Hertfordshire Learning Disability Partnership Board, in conjunction with Adult Care Services, West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust, East & North Herts NHS Trust and Carers in Hertfordshire, to ensure healthcare staff offer patients with learning disabilities the best possible care.
Bereavement
Collaboration with local community leaders, the Coroner, Registrars, local undertakers and Trust staff has led to improved services for bereaved families. From next year, front-line staff will attend bereavement workshops which will advise them of the practicalities around the role of the Coroner, Registrars of Births, Deaths and Marriages and of the post mortem and organ donation procedures.
Voluntary Services
Each week hundreds of volunteers give their time to support the Trust in a wide variety of ways, from helping in outpatients, running the hospital library service, providing volunteer driving services and offering clerical help. The Women's Royal Voluntary Service (WRVS) and Leagues of Friends hospital also provide invaluable services and support to the hospitals.
Pat Schofield and Vivienne Payne, the Trust's Voluntary Services Managers, are always looking for extra pairs of hands. If you'd like to know more please contact Vivienne Payne on 01923 217307 or Pat Schofield on 01442 287973.
Patient & Public Involvement Forums in Hertfordshire
Patient & Public Involvement Forums were established in December 2003 to monitor and review health services from the patient's perspective, to seek the public's views about health services and to make recommendations to the NHS based on those views. The Healthcare Commission now oversees the Patient & Public Involvement Forums. The Acute PPI Forum has been active within the Trust since December 2003 and has ten members to date. The Joint Chairs are Edie Glatter and Peta Gunson and they can be contacted C/o Lin Groves, Forum Support Officer on 01707 695505. Nationally, there are currently PPI Forums in every Acute and Primary Care Trust (PCT).
Consultation with local groups and organisations
Under Section 11 of the Health and Social Care Act 2001 the Trust has a duty to involve and consult patients and the public at the beginning and throughout all stages of a process to plan services, develop and consider proposals for changes in the way services are provided and make decisions affecting the operation of services.
From 4 October 2004 to 14 January 2005 the Trust was involved in a consultation, led by Dacorum PCT, on proposed changes to the way that hospital services for children and young people in West Hertfordshire were provided. Information on the consultation was made widely available via local media, information on websites, distribution of documents and local community meetings and events. Feedback obtained from local people was considered by the Board and contributed to their formal response to the consultation.
From 4 January to 4 April 2005 a consultation on Specialist Surgical Cancer Centres in Hertfordshire and South Bedfordshire took place. In partnership with local PCTs, an event took place to raise awareness of the consultation and discuss the proposals. Feedback from this event was shared with the Strategic Health Authority.
