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Experience feedback data is increasingly recognised as being helpful in improving healthcare services, and in meeting patient and family needs. This end-of-life care project, based on the principles of appreciative inquiry, sought to learn from the experiences of bereaved people whose relative had died in an acute hospital setting. Informal feedback, offered during a routine telephone call, was thematically analysed and interpreted in an appreciative manner. Confirmatory representations of caring practices and behaviours were identified, categorised and disseminated in a way that enabled staff to come to know and understand end-of-life care at its best, rather than as a set of problematised events. The findings served as a benchmark for individuals and teams to assess and progress their practice reflectively. The authors conclude that staff receptiveness to informal bereaved family feedback may be enhanced by focusing on the positive qualities of end-of-life care within existing practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper outlines a service improvement project undertaken in one acute cardiac ward within a regional NHS trust in the east of England that explored the impact of advancing patient- and family-centred care within an acute adult setting. The project was implemented and evaluated over a 9-month period between March and December 2012 and data collected via a pre and post-intervention survey. The results demonstrated that the majority of family carers wanted to be involved in patient care. The provision of flexible family visiting, facilitated and supported family carer involvement in care provision and improved partnership working between family carers and the multidisciplinary team, had a positive impact on the patient and family carer experience. This project has demonstrated the value of involving family carers in acute adult inpatient care provision and the importance of flexible family visiting to enable this to be successful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides a comparative review of the interpretation and implementation of clinical governance frameworks within the four home countries of the UK - England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Clinical governance has become one of most significant and important concepts in modern health care. The article considers the policy background and the many definitions of clinical governance, but specifically compares the various strategic and operational approaches to delivery of clinical governance in different parts of the UK. It is suggested that these variations in approach, by each of the four UK countries, can lead to confusion for healthcare professionals in trying to understand, implement and monitor elements of clinical governance in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emeritus Professor Alan Glasper, University of Southampton, discusses the impact and success of Care Quality Commission hospital inspections since publication of the report into Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ambulatory care (AC) is an approach within which inpatient chemotherapy regimens and supportive care are delivered in an outpatient service. Patients receive their treatments and supportive care daily in AC and stay at a nearby hotel or their home, rather than in an inpatient bed. A systematic literature search found a growing amount of literature on AC and the specific regimens used. However, little was found on AC with regard to the patient experience, safety, the benefits and challenges of running an AC service. This series of three articles is based on the authors' experiences of working within an AC service at a major London teaching hospital. The authors discuss the approach and explore how it can improve the patient experience. They look at the roles of the multidisciplinary team and their part in patient safety, and the benefits, challenges and cost considerations of an AC service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transition from children’s to adult services has long been recognised as challenging. Yet many young people and their families continue to have poor experiences, with a lack of collaboration and communication between the different agencies involved in the transition process. This article highlights the complexities of transition and how it is addressed for young people with complex health needs in Hertfordshire with a dedicated transition nurse coordinator providing support for the young people on the caseload; bridging the gaps between children’s and adult services; and providing continuity until the young person is established in adult services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Personal health budgets (PHBs) were introduced at 61 sites across England; 20 of which were evaluated in a report published in November 2012. There has been collective resistance to PHBs and negative reporting in the professional healthcare press. However, there is some early evidence that PHBs are proving to be successful. Nurses in the community are having a pivotal role in their implementation. This article addresses a number of negative and often misleading myths about PHBs that have been publicised in some areas of the professional press. INSETS: Box 1. A 45-year-old disabled woman;Box 2. A young disabled man. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Valuing People: A New Strategy for Learning Disability for the 21st Century (Department of Health, 2001a,b) aimed to introduce 'health facilitation' to improve the identification of health needs and access to appropriate care for people with learning disabilities. One London Borough took a leading role in implementing this new function, in the form of dedicated, fun-time health facilitators. The authors examined the implementation and its impact, employing an innovative collaboration between professionals from practice, education and research. The clinical nurse involved was observed during her first year of health facilitation. The authors evaluated her impact on professionals, people with learning disabilities and the wider system of health. In some areas (for example, information technology) the health facilitator could make little progress in one year. However, she connected with a widening circle of local people and services, for example, in introducing health action plans for adults with a learning disability. Across the Borough some professionals became more aware of specific health issues in their local population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses that the latest evidence from Guest et al (2020) compares data from 2012-2013 to 2017-2018 and reports that there is an increase in the number of wounds and increase in the financial cost. Topics discussed include the National Wound Care Strategy Programme's will be recommending that those working at a senior level in tissue viability; and framework provides a standard for all levels of multi-professional clinicians, educationalists, researchers and managers.

Emeritus Professor Alan Glasper, from the University of Southampton, discusses a recent report showing how trusts rated as outstanding by the regulator have embedded a culture of change that involves all staff [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]