How your local NHS Trust is involving patients in decision making
On the 5th November 2019 I gave birth to a baby boy who was 10 weeks premature. The service in Lewisham Hospital Maternity Unit and my son’s subsequent stay in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) were fantastic. However, that was not the first hospital I went to that night. My husband and I spent 30 minutes frightened, worried and ignored at Queen Elizabeth Hospital before deciding to make our way to Lewisham. I was in intense pain, and we didn’t know if our baby was OK.
Two years later, I was browsing social media and saw a post by Healthwatch Greenwich, asking for feedback on services in the Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust. I felt ready to be able to address what happened at the first hospital we visited so completed the form and sent it off, in the hopes that it would go to someone with the authority to improve services. Healthwatch Greenwich made my experience a case study and soon after, I was invited to meet with the Trust to discuss what happened. I was then asked to record a patient story for the Board.
Everyone was listening and everyone wanted to learn from the mistakes of that night.
Since then, I have been recruited to the voluntary position of Patient Safety Partner.
The role involves bridging the gap between the medical professionals and the patients (and families). I attend various patient safety and patient experience meetings and can see just how hard staff work to improve services and keep patients safe. Without a doubt there are resourcing issues across the NHS, both financial and staffing. In a climate of post-covid burnout, in environments where many staff have lost friends and colleagues, the patient experience still matters.
Lewisham and Greenwich NHS encourages a culture of transparency. People are human and mistakes do happen, but there are a lot of people determined to resolve issues and get things right.
The Chief Executive holds staff webinars every week where anyone is free to comment or ask a question, and staff are reminded often about the different ways they can report a concern.
I don’t have a medical background. I don’t always have the right words or know who does what, but I do know how patients and their families should be treated.
I also know that the community needs to be able to trust the local health service. Lewisham and Greenwich Trust's recent Improvement Showcase demonstrated how far the Trust has come over the last few years. As service users, we can help it achieve so much more by feeding back – negative and positive experiences - either to Healthwatch Greenwich or the Trust’s Friends and Family Test.
Improving health services is everyone’s business, whether you are a patient, carer or relative. We need to look after the service we have and make sure it is safe, efficient, and fair for everyone.
