Patient participation initiative helps to shape healthcare services at NHS treatment centre

Company news

Feb 04, 2014

With more than 15 years of voluntary service given to supporting the NHS in the Portsmouth area, Jon Cole has a good understanding of what makes a great service, which is why he has chosen to use his local NHS treatment centre for a series of operations and diagnostic procedures.

Jon, who lives in the city, became an advocate for patient participation after he had an accident which left him needing rehabilitation for more than a year and unable to carry on his job as a senior sales manager. He explained: “I received some wonderful treatment and I wanted to put something back into the health service. I spotted an advert looking for people to visit doctors’ surgeries, alongside medical professionals, and assess them from a patient’s point of view.”

Jon became a member of the local primary care trust’s inspection team, regularly visiting 11 surgeries and taking on additional visits if the team needed extra support. “I soon learned that the way patients are treated is almost as important as the medical treatment they receive,” he explained.

“I think that is particularly true if they are undergoing hospital treatment or tests. People are worried, anxious and confused; if you actively involve them and explain what is happening and why, it is empowering.”

Jon became more involved with local health issues and began sitting on numerous working groups and committees. He became convinced that there had to be a more effective way of delivering services.

He recalls: “There used to be mobile chest x-ray clinics and they were then followed by the breast screening clinics. I thought that this model had to be the way forward. A system like that took the routine procedures away from the stress of a hospital that was having to deal with emergencies, and that empowered people to have some control over their own health.

“I began to advocate walk-in centres and I was delighted when I was invited to join the focus group for the development of St. Mary’s NHS Treatment Centre around nine years ago.”

The focus group worked hard to ensure that the centre was developed with the patient at the heart of all it did. Jon said: “We commented, from the patient’s perspective, on almost every aspect of its development, right down to the signage, and I think that has helped to create the centre’s friendly atmosphere.”

Since then Jon has been a regular visitor to the centre in Milton Road, which is run by Care UK, having had two cataract operations, a colonoscopy and three ultrasound urinary scans, one of which detected cancer that had been missed by a specialist outside the city.

Jon said: “The team are very professional, yet relaxed, and that feeling of calm and control spreads to the patients. From the moment you walk in, the receptionists set the tone of warm and courteous efficiency and it is the same throughout the hospital.

“The whole place is scrupulously clean and you are left with the feeling that people genuinely care. I was particularly pleased with the follow-up phone calls after my eye operations. I found them professional and reassuring.”

Penny Daniels, who manages the Care UK treatment centre that sees 113,000 patients a year, said: “It is always nice to have positive patient feedback, but it is extra special when it comes from someone as passionate and committed to excellent healthcare for Portsmouth people as Jon.

“I agree with him that treatment and walk-in centres are a way to take the pressure off hospitals. At St. Mary’s NHS Treatment Centre, we offer advice and treatment for a range of minor illnesses and injuries, including cuts and grazes, burns, strains, sprains, bites, minor infections, eye conditions, stomach pains and suspected fractures, and we hope that this not only serves the community directly but also takes some of the strain away from our colleagues in local accident and emergency services.

“St. Mary’s NHS Treatment Centre is open to anyone with a doctor’s referral, while our minor injuries and illnesses unit, which is located within the treatment centre, is open 7.30am-10pm weekdays and 8am-10pm at weekends and Bank Holidays.”