Organising care around patients is not for the fainthearted. Naomi Chambers and Jeremy Taylors have curated twenty-five accounts from people who agreed to tell the story of what happened when they or their loved ones came into contact with the NHS. The authors defy you not to laugh or cry, or hold your breath in disbelief, at some point when reading this book. In these true and compelling accounts, we learn the experiences – good and bad – of people grappling with birth and death, caring for loved ones, living with mental illness, coping with long-term conditions, and struggling in older age. This book is a call to action aimed at healthcare professionals, managers and politicians: a manifesto for more patient-centred care. These stories show the NHS at its very best – and also when it falls significantly short. Patients or carers currently battling with the system will derive some hope and encouragement, and clues about what to expect, what to ask for, and from whom.
The Pocket Book is for use by doctors nurses and other health workers who are responsible for the care of young children at the first level referral hospitals. This second edition is based on evidence from several WHO updated and published clinical guidelines. It is for use in both inpatient and outpatient care in small hospitals with basic laboratory facilities and essential medicines. In some settings these guidelines can be used in any facilities where sick children are admitted for inpatient care. The Pocket Book is one of a series of documents and tools that support the Integrated Managem.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to radical transformations in the organisation and delivery of health and care services across the world. In many countries, policy makers have rushed to re-organise care services to meet the surge demand of COVID-19, from re-purposing existing services to creating new ‘field’ hospitals. Such strategies signal important and sweeping changes in the organisation of both ‘COVID’ and ‘non-COVID’ care, whilst asking more fundamental questions about the long-term organisation of care ‘after COVID’. In some contexts, the pandemic has exposed the fragilities and vulnerabilities of care systems, whilst in others, it has shown how services are organised to be more resilient and adaptive to unanticipated pressures. The COVID-19 pandemic presents a rare opportunity to examine empirically and to develop new theoretical frameworks on how and why health systems adapt to such unusual and intense pressures. International contributors consider how responses to COVID-19 are transforming the organisation and governance of health and care services and explore questions around strategic leadership at local, regional, national and transnational level. The book offers unique insight and analysis on the dynamics of policy-making, the organisation and governance of care organisations, the role of technologies in governing, the changing role of professionals and the possibilities for more resilient care systems.
"Nurses play a vital role in improving the safety and quality of patient car -- not only in the hospital or ambulatory treatment facility, but also of community-based care and the care performed by family members. Nurses need know what proven techniques and interventions they can use to enhance patient outcomes. To address this need, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), with additional funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, has prepared this comprehensive, 1,400-page, handbook for nurses on patient safety and quality -- Patient Safety and Quality: An Evidence-Based Handbook for Nurses. (AHRQ Publication No. 08-0043)." - online AHRQ blurb, http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nurseshdbk/
This book provides both the evidence and the guidance to enable doctors to improve their assessment and management of the psychological and behavioural aspects of the most common problems presenting in general medical care. It summarises the recent research evidence and provides common sense guidance on how psychological and psychiatric aspects of illness can be addressed within the medical consultation.
This title was first published in 2002: Health systems across the globe face similar problems: controlling costs while maintaining or improving health care quality and access. Notwithstanding the unprecedented health system reforms of the past decades, many outstanding problems remain in these areas. Drawing on experts from Europe and America this eclectic collection of leading edge research examines the impact of organizational development on improving quality and efficiency in health care. A series of chapters provide accounts of organizational reconfiguration in the UK and elsewhere. The contributors examine how structural and procedural changes must be matched by the development of human resource services if increases in efficiency and effectiveness are to be achieved. The book will be of interest to health care academics, policy makers, managers and practitioners who are interested in keeping abreast of the latest developments in health care research.
Research into the delivery and organisation of health care is a vital component in the improvement of health services. A wide range of disciplines and methods needs to be deployed to address research questions in this field. This unique reader brings together thirty examples of high-quality SDO research using a range of disciplines, including organisational studies, epidemiology, sociology, history, health economics, anthropology and policy studies, illustrating the use of qualitative and quantitative approaches and primary and secondary research. Expert editorial commentary on each section highlights different themes and methodological issues. The reader covers six main areas of research: Organising services around the user User involvement in organising services Workforce issues Evaluating models of service delivery Quality management and the management of change Studying health care organisations. This book is a companion volume to Studying the Organisation and Delivery of Health Services: Research Methods also published by Routledge (2001). It makes top-quality, empirical and secondary research readily accessible to health service managers and health care professionals who are interested in research, to health service researchers and to undergraduate and postgraduate students following courses in health and health management studies.
One of the central challenges for the healthcare system today is how to manage care for patients with complex needs. This patient group is not well-defined but covers patients with serious diseases and comorbidities, or with a limited ability to perform basic daily functions due to physical, mental or psychosocial challenges. This group has a high service and resource utilisation resulting in high costs for the healthcare system and, typically, poor health outcomes. To improve care for these patients, it is necessary to implement strategies to manage the differentiated care needs, the additional support needs, the uncertainty in care delivery, and the coordination needs of the involved providers and the patient. Care pathways are increasingly used internationally to make care more patient-centred and to structure and design care processes for individual patient groups. Important elements in care pathways include structuring care activities, by defining their content and sequence; coordinating between providers and professionals; and involving patients in their care process. In this thesis, care pathways are proposed as the overall strategy for managing care for patients with complex care needs. The purpose of this thesis is thus to contribute with knowledge on how care pathways can be managed for patients with complex care needs. This is achieved by analysing how the practices coordination, standardisation, customisation and personalisation can support management of care pathways and by discussing how these practices influence quality of care. The quality of care dimensions discussed are accessible, timely, equitable, and patient-centred care. The empirical context in this thesis is the Standardised Cancer Care Pathways (CCPs) which were implemented in Sweden from 2015 to 2018. CCPs is the umbrella term for the national initiative to shorten waiting times, decrease regional differences and reduce fragmentation in care processes. CCPs include elements such as diagnosis-specific pathways and guidelines, introduction of CPP coordinators, and mandatory reporting of waiting times. Focus has been on implementing care pathways for 31 cancer diagnoses in all Swedish healthcare regions. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods have been used. A case study was conducted to examine standardised and customised care pathways, and coordination and multidisciplinary work in care pathways. A document study of regional reports on CCPs was analysed to study effects of care pathways on accessibility, timeliness and equitability. Finally, a national survey was conducted to deepen the understanding of the role of coordination, as performed by coordinators, in care pathways. This thesis argues that standardised and customised care pathways should be combined to manage care for patients with complex care needs. The customised pathway in particular benefits patients with serious unspecific symptoms, unknown primary tumour or more complex care needs, while patients with care needs that can be treated independently of the main diagnosis benefit from following a standardised care pathway. Coordinators are an important means to manage coordination, customisation and personalisation in the care pathway. The coordinators’ role is twofold: the first role is to manage care pathways by customising the care pathway and coordinating involved providers; the second role is to support and guide patients through the care pathway. This can be achieved by adapting interpersonal communication with patients through personalisation. This thesis further argues that care pathways have most potential to positively influence accessibility, timeliness, equitability, and patient-centredness. Accessibility has been positively influenced, especially for patients with ambiguous symptoms where symptoms indicating cancer have improved their chances of accessing cancer diagnostics. A negative aspect of prioritising patients who follow CCPs has been the potentially longer waiting times for other patient groups in equal need of urgent care. Notwithstanding, prioritised access to care is perceived to positively influence timeliness for patients following CCPs. Care pathways are perceived to have positively influenced patient-centredness by shifting the focus from what to deliver to how to deliver it.
The fifth title in an ongoing series on organizational behaviour in health care. This edition reveals the handling of organizational politics, power and change as a core aspect of effective reorganizations and explores how health care management research relates to health policy in this politically charged arena.
Sponsored by the Picker/Commonwealth Program for Patient-Centered Care In this comprehensive, research-based look at the experiences and needs of patients, the authors explore models of care that can make hospitalization more humane. Through the Patient's Eyes provides insights into why some hospitals are more patient-centered than others; how physicians can become more involved in patient-centered quality efforts; and how patient-centered quality can be integrated into health care policy, standards, and regulations. The authors show how, by bringing the patient's perspective to the design and delivery of health services, providers can improve their ability to meet patient's needs and enhance the quality of care.
