The number of Lived Experience Ambassadors employed by the Trust has tripled in the last 18 months, with more than 250 current and former patients now working alongside EPUT to shape improvement.
This is just part of the picture and sits alongside the work taking place day-to-day across the Trust to make sure that patients have a voice and that families and carers are fully involved in the care and treatment of their loved ones.
While there is more to do, there has been significant progress since Paul Scott joined the Trust as Chief Executive in 2020:
- 98.2% of patients and their families tell us they feel safe in our care
- Of the 8,000 people who have sent feedback via iWantGreatCare healthcare review surveys in the last two years, 94% have left positive feedback about their care
Patient and carer involvement forms a key strand of the Trust’s new Quality of Care framework. Shaped by what patients, their supporters and carers have highlighted, it focuses on safety, effectiveness and experience as the foundations for delivering consistent and reliable care.
Former patients have been employed in dedicated roles across EPUT and more than 330 new clinical and non-clinical posts are being recruited to as part of the Trust’s transformative Time to Care programme, designed to ensure patients receive personally tailored care to support them with their long-term recovery.
The roles form part of a new staffing model which broadens the range of skilled staff on EPUT wards, from consultants, nurses and support workers to activity co-ordinators, family care ambassadors and peer support workers.
Working as part of a multi-disciplinary team, they ensure that patients receive a rich and varied programme of treatment, activities and care every day – ranging from a counselling session with one of the Trust’s psychologists to a group activity like football or dancing, alongside care from specially trained doctors and nurses.
Time to Care sees patients and their families being more actively involved in decisions about their treatment so that they receive the right care at the right time tailored to their needs and working towards planned, appropriate discharge support by the Trust’s community mental health teams.
The transformation of EPUT’s services is also supported by the ambitious development of a unified Electronic Patient Record (EPR) in partnership with Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust.
The first of its kind in the NHS, the EPR will enable teams delivering acute, community and mental health services to work together more closely to deliver safer, more effective, joined-up patient care through a unified system.
Paul Scott, EPUT Chief Executive, said: “We care for more than 100,000 patients at any one time and are working continuously to transform our services so that they each receive the care they deserve, the best possible care.
“We know there is much more to be done but we have taken great strides on our journey of improvement, and recent feedback from our patients, their carers and loved ones is testament to that.
“Working closely with patients, their families and our partners is enabling us to learn from their experiences to drive sustained change, ensuring that patient voice runs through the core of our organisation from inpatient and community mental health services to physical health care clinics and community nursing.”