Personal Care Annual Report April 2015
We have continued on from a busy and productive year in 2013/14, working to:
- Host a lively discussion group at the 2014 ASM in Edinburgh
- Work with SAPC Exec on raising our profile
- Make plans for future activities of the group
- Welcome a new co-convenor
Dangerous Ideas in Edinburgh 2014
Another well attended meeting welcomed two presentations, sparking lively conversations on a broad range of issues related to personal care.
Professor Chris Salisbury (Bristol) introduced his groups work on alternatives to face to face consultation in general practice: the impact on different patient groups. Asking, why are people so keen on developing alternative models? Why are professionals so resistant? And what’s in it for patients?
- We considered whether and how existing research in areas such as telemedicine might offer some insights
- The possibilities of exploring remote practice eg in Scotland as a research site (where they have established use of alternatives to face to face consultations)
- And the need to explore both successful and unsuccessful use of alternatives to offer deeper understanding
The discussion challenged us all to think again about what makes care ‘personal’; raised some interesting methodological challenges; and identified some valuable suggestions for research sites/avenues for exploration that the team will be considering further.
Maxine Jones (PC development advisor) and Hannah Dale (Health Psychologist)then introduced the Nuka project and its application within a Fife setting
Nuka is a model of primary care provision pioneered in Alaska. Nuka is underpinned by an emphasis on enabling health and wellbeing, rather than rescuing from illness. In its original setting, Nuka has had a significant impact on service use (reduction in hospital admissions and emergency attendance, GP attendance, and improved patient and staff satisfaction). iThe Scottish team have taken one element of the wider Nuka programme and used it to transform care in their practice in Fife. Essentially involving the introduction of integrated care teams working with a defined patient list to provide continuity of care; including proactive case management, and engagement with a behavioural health psychologist; individually tailored care. The team report a reduction in workload for staff and improved patient and staff satisfaction.
A lively discussion considered the sustainability and viability, as well as the potential and complexities of learning from a small pilot. Considering if and how we might generate practice-based evidence that could inform future, wider service change. The debates highlighted the importance of early involvement of innovation with academic primary care expertise in order to maximise the learning from, and so impact of, novel practice. A reminder of why we need Personal Care academics!
Working with SAPC Exec on raising our profile
We share SAPC’s goals to raise the profile of academic primary care practice, and so enhance the impact of our work. We look forward to the opportunities offered by the new website, and SAPC’s wider work to share our message more widely.
As a starting point, we have prepared a short description of our group for the new website: who we are and why we matter. We hope this will both welcome new members to the group, and encourage external partners to recognise us as a source of expertise in this area.
Making plans for the future
At our 2014 meeting, we reflected back on what we have achieved to help us in planning for our next steps. We agreed that the opportunity to debate ideas within a friendly setting has been at the core of our success in sparking new work. With that in mind, we have started advertising plans for our 2015 meeting: a Personal Care Ideas Incubator
We are inviting you to come and present an ‘idea that must be heard’. It can be something you are working on, but need help with; an idea that has been floating around your subconscious and needs work; or something that has inspired you during the conference.
You will have 3 minutes to interest the audience in your idea. We will ask you to
- Outline the idea
- Explain why it matters
- Say what needs doing to get it heard and move forward (e.g. how can the audience help)
And to make sure it’s the idea that shines, we are asking you just to stand and speak – no powerpoint, no slides.
You can also contribute as an audience member by providing experience, expertise, and feedback. Constructive audience criticism provides a stimulating and supportive opportunity to move the idea forward and for future networking.
After all the ideas are presented and discussed, there will be a vote on the favourite that the group will support by working with them; offering experience of what has already been done; providing practical advice, links, and inspiration; and establishing a blog space or future meeting space.
Presenters will be encouraged to write a short blog about their progress (or constructive lack of same) that will then be published on the new SAPC website.
Welcoming a new co-convenor
And if that wasn’t all enough, we are also delighted to welcome Jess Drinkwater as a new co-convenor for the group.