Patient and Public Involvement, Engagement and Partnership in Healthcare and Healthcare Science

Details

Title

Patient and Public Involvement, Engagement and Partnership in Healthcare and Healthcare Science

Type

Stage Two

Module code

HCC24

Requirement

Compulsory

Module objective

Involving patients, service users, carers and the public across the NHS and social care in healthcare and healthcare science is essential. Patients and the public should be involved in developing guidance, advice and quality standards, and supporting their implementation. A number of initiatives to support this aim, including:

• Health and Social Care Act (DH, 2012)
• NHS Constitution (DH, 2012)
• ‘Putting People at the Heart of Care’ (DH, 2009)
• ‘Essential Standards of Quality and Safety’ (CQC, 2010)

The aim of this HSST module is therefore to ensure that the Clinical Scientist in HSST understands the importance and relevance of involving patients and the public, and organisations representing their interests in health and healthcare science. Patient and public involvement also includes providing opportunities for patients and the public to contribute to the development, accreditation, implementation and monitoring of education and training programmes for healthcare science and the wider healthcare community, e.g. by contributing to: curriculum development, teaching, learning and assessment activities, the accreditation of education and training programmes, recruitment to programmes and posts, developing guidance, advice and quality standards, and supporting their implementation. The Clinical Scientist in HSST will be expected to critically appraise the underpinning academic evidence base and gain experience of working with patients and the public and evaluating the impact on service delivery, education, research and innovation.

Knowledge and understanding

By the end of this module the Clinical Scientist in HSST will comprehend, apply, analyse, synthesise and evaluate the evidence base underpinning the involvement of patients and members of the public across a range of areas and activities within healthcare and healthcare science. They will also be expected to be aware of the key areas where changes in healthcare will provide patients/carers and the public with access to their data, including medical records and test results, and how healthcare science services can optimise the positive impact of involving patients/carers and the public.

Patient and Public Involvement in Health and Healthcare

• patient involvement and engagement in terms of individuals as patients, citizens and tax payers;
• current NHS strategies and policies to promote patient and public involvement in healthcare and the development of public policies;
• different perspectives of engagement and involvement in health and healthcare;
• incorporation of the patient and public interest to ensure that matters affecting patient safety are not overlooked;
• patient involvement in commissioning services;
• evidence base underpinning the involvement of patients and the public in health and healthcare;
• barriers to effective patient involvement and potential solutions;
• design, implementation and evaluation of patient pathways and services;
• role and impact of patients and the public in NHS governance structures;
• the importance of agreeing principles around the roles and responsibilities of patients who are involved in these areas;
• how patients use information resources of varying backgrounds, e.g. those developed by the NHS and healthcare professionals; those developed by charities and advocacy groups; peer support and social networks; commercial sites; and wikis (notably Wikipedia);
• online health-related resources supporting:
  • provision of information on healthcare interventions (treatments, operations and procedures);
  • public health and patient advisory/support resources;
  • patient engagement and involvement solutions (such as Patient Opinion, Patients Like Me, etc.);
• impact of new technology that enables patient/public involvement in their own health;
• issues and standards relating to the design and implementation of technology solutions to be used by members of the public;
• implications of patient access to records and clinical information for interprofessional practice and multidisciplinary care;
• access to medical records and test results online and the benefits and challenges;
• governance implications for individuals and organisations of information sharing and communication between professionals and patients.

Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) in Research

Involving patients and members of the public in research can lead to better research, clearer outcomes and faster uptake of new evidence. The Clinical Scientist in HSST will therefore be expected to discuss and evaluate PPI in:

• the role of the Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLARCHs), Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) and other relevant organisations and their approach to PPI;
• commissioning and reviewing of research proposals;
• identifying the important questions that health and social care research needs to answer as part of setting research priorities;
• giving their views on research proposals alongside clinical scientists, clinicians, methodologists, scientists, and public health and other professionals;
• helping assess proposals for funding;
• taking part in clinical trials and other health and social care research studies, not just as subjects but as active partners in the research process;
• publicising and contextualising the results.

Patient and Public Involvement in Education and Training

Recent years have seen a shift in expectations of the public in the delivery of healthcare, perhaps best captured by the NHS’s No Decision About Me Without Me maxim, along with the introduction of the Choice agenda. Involving patients and the public in the education and training of the current and future workforce is important to ensure that there is a shared understanding of the expectations of the patients and public and the roles and responsibilities of healthcare science and healthcare staff. The Clinical Scientist in HSST will be expected to critically evaluate the impact of PPI across a range of teaching and learning activities, including:

• role of patients and the public with respect to:
  • programme design and curriculum development
  • course management and quality assurance
  • recruitment, training and support of patients and the public
  • recruitment and selection of students/trainees
  • teaching
  • student/trainee feedback
  • assessment
  • patient feedback as part of staff appraisal
• influencing resourcing to support teaching, learning and assessment;
• evidence base underpinning the involvement of patients and the public in education and training.

Technical and clinical skills

By the end of this module the Clinical Scientist in HSST will be expected to critically reflect on the current level of patient and public engagement and involvement in their own practice and the services they lead. They will be expected to apply in practice a range of skills to work in partnership with patients and will:

• review current national and local strategies, including that of the local employer, with respect to patient engagement and partnership and identify where this can be strengthened;
• in partnership with patients, use the outcome of the review to develop, implement and evaluate a new initiative to strengthen patient involvement in your area of work and disseminate the findings.

The Clinical Scientist in HSST will be expected to reflect on the challenges of involving patients and the public in healthcare and healthcare science and applying research to practice, building on a critique of available evidence.

Attitudes and behaviours

By the end of this module the Clinical Scientist in HSST will be expected to consistently demonstrate the values and behaviours required of a Consultant Clinical Scientist working in partnership with patients and the public to ensure staff and services meet the needs of patients, and will:

• respect the contribution the patient and public to healthcare and put the quality of the patient experience at the centre of personal practice and service design and delivery;
• engage and work in partnership with individuals who are or who have been patients/carers, not always actively seeking the view of the ‘well public’;
• be creative in the approaches to engaging the population, particularly those groups whose voices are not always heard;
• lead services with a culture that seeks and values the views of patients and the public and enables patients and the public to influence decisions in an open, transparent and evidence-based way.