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Introduction: In England, primary care networks (PCNs) offer opportunities to improve access to and sustainability of general practice through collaboration between groups of practices to provide care with a broader range of practitioner roles. However, there are concerns that these changes may undermine continuity of care. Our study investigates what the organisational shift to PCNs means for continuity of care. Methods: The paper uses thematic analysis of qualitative data from interviews with general practitioners and other healthcare professionals (HCPs, n = 33) in 19 practices in five PCNs, and their patients (n = 35). Three patient cohorts within each participating practice were recruited, based on anticipated higher or lower needs for continuity of care: patients over 65 years with polypharmacy, patients with anxiety or depression and 'working age' adults aged between 18 and 45 years. Findings: Patients and clinicians perceived changes to continuity in PCNs in our study. Larger‐scale care provision in PCNs required better care coordination and information‐sharing processes, aimed at improving care for 'vulnerable' patients in target groups. However, new working arrangements and ways of delivering care in PCNs undermine HCPs' ability to maintain continuity through ongoing relationships with patients. Patients experience this in terms of reduced availability of their preferred clinician, inefficiencies in care and unfamiliarity of new staff, roles and processes. Conclusions: New practitioners need to be effectively integrated to support effective team‐based care. However, for patients, especially those not deemed 'vulnerable', this may not be sufficient to counter the loss of relationship with their practice. Therefore, caution is required in relation to designating patients as in need of, or not in need of continuity. Rather, continuity for all patients could be maintained through a dynamic understanding of the need for it as fluctuating and situational and by supporting clinicians to provide follow‐up care. Patient and Public Involvement (PPI): A PPI group was recruited and consulted during the study for feedback on the study design, recruitment materials and interpretation of findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and context: Breastfeeding peer support is valued by women, but UK trials have not demonstrated efficacy. The ABA feasibility trial offered proactive peer support underpinned by behaviour change theory and an assets‐based approach to women having their first baby, regardless of feeding intention. This paper explores women's and infant feeding helpers' (IFHs) views of the different components of the ABA intervention. Setting and participants: Trained IFHs offered 50 women an antenatal meeting to discuss infant feeding and identify community assets in two English sites—one with a paid peer support service and the other volunteer‐led. Postnatally, daily contact was offered for the first 2 weeks, followed by less frequent contact until 5 months. Methods: Interviews with 21 women and focus groups/interviews with 13 IFHs were analysed using thematic and framework methods. Results: Five themes are reported highlighting that women talked positively about the antenatal meeting, mapping their network of support, receiving proactive contact from their IFH, keeping in touch using text messaging and access to local groups. The face‐to‐face antenatal visit facilitated regular text‐based communication both in pregnancy and in the early weeks after birth. Volunteer IFHs were supportive of and enthusiastic about the intervention, whereas some of the paid IFHs disliked some intervention components and struggled with the distances to travel to participants. Conclusions: This proactive community assets‐based approach with a woman‐centred focus was acceptable to women and IFHs and is a promising intervention warranting further research as to its effect on infant feeding outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Parents of disabled children report poorer inpatient experiences when they stay in hospital, and some staff report finding communicating with disabled children challenging. This study tested the feasibility of implementing a training package for staff on paediatric wards to improve communication with disabled children, especially those with communication difficulties, and their families. The package was developed with parent carers and clinicians, and comprises a manual, a video of parent carers talking about real experiences, discussion points and local resources. The 50‐minutes training is intended for in‐house delivery by local facilitators. Methods: Thirteen training sessions were delivered in paediatric wards across four hospitals in England, totalling 123 staff who took part. Participants completed questionnaires before (n = 109) and after (n = 36) training, and a sample of champions (senior clinicians) and facilitators were interviewed at the end of the study. Results: Facilitators found the training easy to deliver, and participants felt they took away important messages to improve their practice. After the training, further changes were reported at an organizational level, including offering further training and reviewing practices. Conclusions: This study provides supporting evidence for the implementation of a low‐cost, minimal‐resource training package to support staff communication with children and their families in hospitals. It provides promising indication of impact on behavioural change at the individual and organizational level. Patient and public contribution: Parent carers identified the need and helped to develop the training, including featuring in the training video. They were also consulted throughout the study on research design, delivery and reporting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Our study aimed to evaluate to what extent Zero2 Expo's 'Birthing a Better Future', a co‐created multimedia exhibition, was effective in raising awareness on the importance of the first 1001 days of life and explore what refinements would help to optimize the impact of future exhibitions. Methods: We conducted a mixed‐methods evaluation of the exhibition delivered in the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford. Through convenience sampling, 14 participants were selected to participate in 12 structured interviews and 19 participants completed a questionnaire. Interviews were thematically analysed alongside quantitative analysis of questionnaire responses through Likert scales. Results: The majority (78.6%, n = 11/14) of participants who completed the questionnaire either agreed or strongly agreed that the exhibition raised their awareness about the first 1001 days of life. This was supported by the analysis of interviews. The use of art was found to provoke an emotional engagement from participants. Participants felt that the length of the written pieces and location of the exhibition were important factors for designers to consider in future exhibitions. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that multimedia exhibitions, combining science with art, may be an effective way to raise awareness of public health messages. Engaging with key stakeholders will be an essential step in order to improve future public health exhibitions. Public Contribution: When designing the study, the public reviewed the study tools, which were refined based on their feedback. At every phase of the study, members of the public who are artists co‐created the exhibition content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Reciprocal relationships between researchers and patient and public involvement (PPI) contributors can enable successful PPI in research. However, research and anecdotal evidence suggest that researchers do not commonly provide feedback to PPI contributors thus preventing them from knowing whether, how or where their contributions were useful to researchers and research overall. Aims: The aim of this study was to explore the variation, types, importance of, and satisfaction with feedback given by researchers to PPI contributors in six PPI groups in England, and identify the barriers to the process of feedback. Methods: An explanatory mixed methods sequential study design with a questionnaire survey followed by semi‐structured interviews with researchers and PPI contributors in six PPI groups. PPI contributors were involved in all stages of the research process. Results: Researchers do not routinely give feedback to PPI contributors. Feedback was found to have different meanings: an acknowledgement, impact and study success and progress. PPI contributors who receive feedback are motivated for further involvement; it supports their learning and development and prompts researchers to reflect on PPI impact. The importance of the role of a PPI lead or coordinator to facilitate the process of providing feedback was also highlighted. Conclusion: This study found no generic way to give feedback indicating that mutual feedback expectations should be discussed at the outset. PPI feedback needs to become integral to the research process with appropriate time and resources allocated. PPI feedback can be seen as a key indicator of mature, embedded PPI in research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: UK Hospital Trusts are charged with increasing patients’ research awareness and willingness to take part in research. This includes implementing strategies to encourage patient‐initiated enquiries about participation. Objectives: To evaluate the impact of a research statement inserted in outpatient letters in one clinical service, and to derive suggestions on potential steps towards increasing patient‐initiated recruitment. Setting: A medical outpatient clinic of a research‐active hospital trust, serving an inner‐city multi‐ethnic population across two boroughs. Methods: Pre‐intervention and post‐intervention questionnaires were administered face‐to‐face to new patients. Questionnaires included closed questions and one open comments section. Data were analysed for frequencies, with thematic coding of open‐ended responses. Results: The response rates were 87% for the pre‐intervention survey and 92% for the post‐intervention survey. In the post‐intervention survey, 85% of patients did not notice the research statement in the letter. More than half found the statement “a little unclear,” whilst one‐third considered it “clear.” Three‐quarters of respondents perceived the statement to be “a little helpful.” Only one person enquired about participating in clinical research having read the statement in the outpatient letter. Conclusion: The analysis suggests that simple, single‐solution approaches such as including research statements in outpatient letters are unlikely to be sufficient to significantly facilitate patient‐initiated recruitment. Recruitment efforts need to take into consideration the diversity of patient constituencies including the reasons they seek health care, and how patients can meaningfully access information (research literacy). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which aims to explore the acceptability of antenatal enquiry for domestic abuse from the perspective of women using maternity services. The researchers detail the multimethod approach in data collection procedure and outcomes. It implies that women patients support and have positive views of antenatal enquiry for domestic abuse in healthcare settings.

Background In recent years, patient-focused interventions have been introduced aimed at increasing patient involvement in safety-related behaviours. However, patients' attitudes towards these interventions and comfort in participating in the recommended behaviours remain largely unexplored. Objective To evaluate patients' attitudes towards a video and leaflet aimed at encouraging patient involvement in safety-related behaviours. Design Two exploratory studies employing a within-subjects mixed-methods design. Setting Six hospital wards on an inner-city London teaching hospital. Participants Medical and surgical inpatients: 80 patients in study 1 (mean age 55; 69% men) and 80 patients in study 2 (mean age 52; 60% men). Intervention Patients watched the PINK patient safety video (study 1) or read the National Patient Safety Agency's 'Please Ask' about staying in hospital leaflet (study 2). Main outcome measures Perceived comfort in participating in safety-related behaviours; attitudes towards the video or leaflet. Results Both video and leaflet increased patients' perceived comfort in engaging in some (but not all) safety-related behaviours ( P < 0.05). In both studies, the majority of patients questioned whether the intervention could help to reduce medical errors in health care. Suggestions on how the video/leaflet could be improved mainly related to content and layout. Conclusion Video and leaflet could be effective at encouraging patient involvement in some safety-related behaviours. Further in-depth research on patients' attitudes towards different educational materials is required to help inform future policies and interventions in this very important but under-researched area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]