at Guy's & St Thomas', London
I had only just completed my series of posts on Inviting Curiousity when I was invited to attend and speak at an event celebrating the improvements being made to patient experience for research by a group of patients working together with the research team.
They approached the tasks as part of Quality Improvement rather than 'involvement' and used Collaborative Design and Innovation as their approach.
This, for me, focusses on the WHY and the WHAT. They began by choosing some areas that were good but could be better. This immediately takes us into the land of making a real difference rather than the, too often, tokenistic manner of having someone on a committee.
The work that is taking place is being driven by patient need, professional observation and a very committed Oncology and Haematology Clinical Trials team at Guy's and St Thomas' Foundation Trust in London. You can follow them on Twitter @GSTTohct
Together, they chose 4 areas and set up small mixed teams of patients and professionals as Collaborative Quality Improvement Groups. Here is a short summary of what they have achieved...
- Communicating with the public - resulting in an improved website, better use of social media with some short video clips about taking part and getting involved.
- Making sense of the jigsaw pieces of the research journey in cancer - will give research participants an opportunity to attend a short explanatory session about research
- Reimbursements of patient expenses for taking part in research - has already resulted in quicker payments, a better system and a fuller explanation of the process
- Helping people navigate the Cancer Centre - has produced a short booklet which maps and outline what is where at both Guy's and St Thomas' hospital sites.
The group will be presenting a poster at the INVOLVE Conference in November and I urge people to find it, read about what they have achieved and learn from the process they used.
I was really impressed by the efforts Guy's and St Thomas' are doing to build a Research Active Nation to...
- explain why they do research and the type of research they deliver which helps people To KNOW about research
- answer many of our questions that will assist the public To TAKE PART in research
- provide a lay summary of what the research is about so that we can find out more which helps people To USE research findings
- let people know how they can get involved To HELP make research better
- point you in the direction of their performance against other areas so that you can ask questions and help To INFLUENCE research
- give you information about fundraising for the hospital and people might like to consider how To GIVE for research
The series of posts invite you to being CURIOUS
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