Repeated reviews in maternity (and other areas) have not really go to the bottom of the issues - often because they are genuinely hard to understand. And so the pattern repeats. bmj.com/cgi/content/...
bmj.com
Alf Collins
@alfcollins.bsky.social
Doctor, patient advocate, Trustee Patients Association, Picker Institute. Person centred, high value care, shared decision making, support for self management. Ex Health Foundation, NHS England. Rugby, family, good food. Personal views
Wouldn’t it be fab if the 22 NhSE patient decision support tools (www.england.nhs.uk/personalised...) were on the NHS App? It would be a significant step forward for ‘patient power’ but no one at the centre seems to even know about them.
NHS England » Decision support tools
NHS England » Decision support tools
england.nhs.uk
There is much to be welcomed about the Amos report - but its conclusions on the influence of ‘normal birth’ ideology on maternity safety are not supported by wider evidence, offer dangerous false assurance and must not be relied upon. www.hsj.co.uk/patient-safe...
The Amos review’s conclusions on ‘normal birth ideology’ are not credible
The Amos review's conclusions on maternity safety contradict four previous major investigations, raising serious questions about the evidence underpinning national policy
hsj.co.uk
We call it ‘deeming leadership’ In a close field it is the worst type of leadership. We deem compassion and candour and quality. We get poor care, burnout and privatisation. Cock up or conspiracy?
I’ve always thought of national policies as having the same status as the Egyptian Book of the Dead. Detailed priestly prescriptions for how to control something that doesn’t happen and, even if it does, can’t be controlled.
Wife about to undergo bilateral cataract surgery. Basic lenses available on NHS, more sophisticated lenses only available privately. Having looked at NICE and evidence, it does seem that the core argument is population value. But…seems like a good case for copayments. Tell me I’m wrong 😊
I don’t think we’ve got much chance of improving things like life expectancy and healthy life expectancy until we stop bickering about payment models and NHS funding and start focusing on the reasons we get sick in the first place.
I still don’t know which button to press to end a call on my iPhone. I rely on the person I’m speaking with to cancel the call
With Penelope Keith’s passing, I got to thinking about Paul Eddington, in his final days, facing the camera that one last time, despite the shitty hand life had dealt him, and the courage it must have taken to do so. Given the chance to spin some grandstanding bullshit, he chose to say this instead:
"I know it's not the sort of thing you usually do Mr Havelange but speaking as a nuclear power we'd appreciate Gascoigne's yellow being overturned and the match result annulled"
My wife has just been phoned to ask on what date she wants her cataract surgery. How lovely to be given the choice. But she didn’t even know she’d been referred…
The Probate Division of the High Court admin was very impressive. Other than that, I agree; nothing works as it should.
It’s already 33 degrees in Wellington Somerset and I’ve just walked past a woman in a winter parka. With the hood up.
Rant coming up. We know that shared decision making ensures that demand is informed, so it reduces ‘supplier capture of the market’ and unwarranted variation. It also leads to improvements in personal and population value. So could someone tell me who is leading on SDM in DHSC? No? Thought not…
Well this is very kind Alf thank you. Bit of a [gulp] moment tbh. thank you, and thank you for all your encouragement over recent years😍
I’ve just read a senior healthcare leader’s comments on the 10 year health plan. ‘A step change for patient power’ they say. Did they read the same plan as me?
In the immortal words of Francis Urquhart “ you might say that … I couldn’t possibly comment “ 😂😂😂😂 lovely to hear from you, Alf,I’m very well tx after 2 weeks in glorious Northumbria. Hope all is well with you 👍
Francis Uq in Parliament
ALT: Francis Uq in Parliament
static.klipy.com
Nothing terrifies a cult of personality like a personality with a cult.
“Most of our medicines don’t work in most of our patients most of the time.” A quote from a senior executive in GlacoSmithKline Pharmaceutical Co, back in 2003. He was right of course. #MedSky #PharmSky @realisticmedicine.bsky.social
I’ve been speaking with friends who applied for the DHSC Director of Patient Experience role and weren’t shortlisted. I’m getting the distinct impression that personalised care (esp. support for self management and shared decision making) are no longer priorities for Government. Shame on them.
Health literacy. Important topic and this article is ok. Apart from one (big) issue.It looks at HL from the wrong end of the telescope- implying that low HL is a ‘patient problem’ and not a system problem. Eg I recently received a letter from a consultant and I could barely understand a word…
Patient Safety Learning@patientsafetylearning.org · 2mo agoGuide added to the hub this week - Improving health literacy in the NHS.
Group Coaching Skills | One-day workshop A practical, applied workshop. Explore different approaches and develop skills you can use immediately in your role. Register here: tpchealth.com/all-events/g... @alfcollins.bsky.social
Though this new treatment is a genuine breakthrough, in the trial it doubled survival time (from diagnosis to death) and not survival rate (percentage of patients surviving more than 5 or 10 years). Another example of sloppy journalism potentially misleading the general public.
Ravi 🇨🇦@medical91.bsky.social · 2mo agoPromising new treatment for pancreatic cancer doubles survival rates
Yes. Leads to bias, distorted priorities as managers chase metrics, staff demoralisation feeling their professional judgement undervalued, inequalities as patients with less targeted conditions wait longer and public confusion when media reports on waiting lists etc do not reflect lived experience.