Duty of Care

 Care Quality Omission -the cartoon in today’s Times – NHS scandal watchdogs ‘should face prosecution’ shouts the front page headline - NHS patients need to be given more power states the leader column.

Adroit-e has been arguing for some years that patients’ insights should be given increased prominence in policy making – but why restrict things to NHS patients?

Many people go to the dentist privately – some practices operate a 2 tier NHS/Private system. Adroit-e has approached dental groups with a plan to operate a rigorous feed back system.

The culture in London NHS hospitals has been described to Adroit-e by leading NHS managers as one where bullying consultants run departments as personal fiefdoms. We responded by developing a plan to train student doctors in conducting feedback research with patients – a small step in improving the role of patients in identifying  an antipathetic culture.

We have consulted with doctors’ surgeries to produce a less anodyne and uneven feedback structure for their patients, than the ones currently in place.

Similarly, we have constructed rigorous feedback systems for those concerned with the care of the elderly, a related structure to the one in today’s headlines but no stranger to recent charges  of systemic malfunction.

None of these feedback programmes is currently in operation – in the hands of managers of these services they have either withered on the grapevine or failed to see the light of day.

It’s part of the same set of circumstances – the truth is something to be avoided at all costs in case it interferes with the smooth running of the business.

Come on guys – you can do better than this!

Cultural Difference

What do you call a teacher leading a group of 20 children aged 12 t o 13 on bicycles up a one way street the wrong way in the middle of the rush hour.

Stupid? Highly dangerous? Certifiable?

Actually the term is ‘cultural difference’. That scenario is precisely what I’ve just witnessed from my window in the medieval city of Bruges in Belgium. There, a law has been passed stating that rules applying to one way streets apply to motorists not cyclists. Almost everyone cycles, young and old - a different culture from the UK.

So what the teacher was doing was clearly legal – if you still consider it unwise, then that is your perception, and your attitude to the prevailing practices.

Research in your Care Home can be conducted to understand better attitudes to and perceptions of the prevailing culture within the Home.  Is it friendly, professional, caring and responsive? What to Residents think, or their families – what do staff think – what do suppliers think – what does the local community think?

Let us design a questionnaire with you, circulate it online to your Care Home’s Residents and  families and compile a fully data checked Topline Report...