During the Covid-19 pandemic, we put in place significant changes to the way we ran our NHS services to keep our patients and staff safe.
As we see Covid-19 cases decreasing, we are starting to develop plans to increase our services. As part of this work, we have committed to understanding the patient experience of some of the new ways we have delivered care during Covid-19.
When we have asked patients to help us develop our services in the past we have always invited them to meetings, or invited ourselves to groups or meetings. This is not now possible with the rules on social distancing so we have thought carefully about how to ensure we hear the experience of patients and maintain social distance.
Below are the projects we have been working on.
Endoscopy
A group of clinicians at NDHT are working on plans to increase the capacity of our endoscopy services following Covid-19.
We are asking patients who have recent experience of our endoscopy services about the recent changes we have made to our services.
For example, we are exploring the following areas:
- The experience of patients preparing to have their endoscopy
- The experience of coming to the Gemini Suite at NDDH
- Whether patients have liked the telephone call or video appointments that have replaced some face-to-face appointments
- Whether patients have any fears or anxieties about coming to hospital or having a telephone/video appointment
This feedback will help us develop the arrangements we need to put in place in our hospitals to make coming in for an endoscopy as comfortable an experience as possible.
We will be looking to see if the feedback from these patients can benefit all patients who need to use our hospital services.
Outpatient appointments
A group of clinicians at NDHT are working on plans to increase the capacity of our outpatient services following Covid-19.
We have reached out to specific patient groups who are likely to have spent the past few months shielding due to being clinically vulnerable. We asked these patients to share their expert views to help us develop the arrangements we need to put in place in our hospitals to make coming in for an outpatient appointment feel a comfortable experience.
We are looking to see if the feedback from these patients can benefit all patients who need to use our hospital services.
For example, we are exploring the following areas:
- Whether patients feel there are any barriers to accessing a service at NDDH
- Whether patients have accessed and/or liked the telephone call or video appointment
- The experience for patients who have visited NDDH over the last 3 months
- Whether patients have any fears or anxieties about coming to hospital
Get involved
If you would like to participate in any of our engagement projects, please get in touch by emailing Sarah Delbridge, engagement officer.
Email: sarah.delbridge@nhs.net