The icing on the cake
How food is presented makes a big difference to patients’ experience of meals, and is very important in relation to eating, nutrition and health as well as making patients feel valued and looked after.
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How food is presented makes a big difference to patients’ experience of meals, and is very important in relation to eating, nutrition and health as well as making patients feel valued and looked after.
full storyMaking the headlines Introduction Producing a ward newsletter can feel like a daunting amount of work. But it’s a great way of providing your patients, staff and friends and family with up-to-date information, creating a sense of community, involvement and inclusion and having fun. Newsletters can also be creative, showcasing patient artwork, poetry and short […]
full storyFrom board to ward Introduction A recurrent theme in Wardipedia is the importance of staff seeing things from patients’ perspectives. The same equally applies to senior managers and their staff teams. The only way to get a strong grasp on what it’s like to be a patient, member of staff or visitor on the ward, […]
full storyGood feel causes Introduction Being able to contribute to others is increasingly being recognised as a powerful way of feeling better about ourselves. Lots of wards generously take part in all sorts of fund-raising, and awareness-raising, activities and these can be some of the most fun, satisfying and bonding days of the year for patients […]
full storyThinking out of the refuse box Introduction Greenyness is great for healthier living, feeling positively connected with the world outside the ward, contributing to the local and global challenge of saving the planet. And of course many patients and staff will be passionate environmentalists and can provide lots of great ideas for gentler, more sustainable […]
full storyFeedbackwards and forwards Introduction Odds are your ward already systematically collects information on patients’ experiences and opinions. Your Trust probably has a quality, audit, service improvement etc department and your ward its own methods for finding out how patients feel about being in hospital. From the formal (academic studies, annual surveys, focus groups etc), to […]
full storyPlanning ahead Introduction Whether they’re called, Advance Directives, Advance Statements , Advance Decisions or, frankly anything along these lines, it is highly beneficial to have information about their care preferences from patients when they are in a good mental state to provide it. The legal situation is that the Mental Capacity Act 2005 gives people […]
full storyManaging my meds myself Introduction When patients return home, especially if they’re living relatively independently, they need to be able to manage their medication. Being in hospital is the perfect opportunity to refine this skill, and to learn about any new medication they might have been prescribed. As we describe below, taking medication ‘the right […]
full storyA meeting of minds Introduction Focus group, customer service forum, group therapy, democratic community meeting, therapeutic community meeting, trade/student union meeting. Meetings don’t come more complex than ward community meetings! The variety of names reflects both the multiple aims and also, perhaps, ambiguity about their purpose and value – eg therapeutic community meetings, ward meetings, […]
full storyInvolvement – and information, inclusion, influence, independence The 5 ins. All crucial ingredients in inpatients having a therapeutic, empowering, admission which equips them well for maintaining their stability when they’re back home. (OK. We’ve stopped doing the in- thing now.) The fact that the government are very keen on patient autonomy isn’t a strong enough […]
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