A parent who claimed she could tell what kind of hospital care her daughter would get within 15 steps of walking on to a ward has sparked a national challenge being piloted in south Lincolnshire.
The 15 Steps Challenge aims to identify what good quality care looks and feels like from the patient’s point of view.
Patients and members of the public have been involved in piloting the initiative at Pilgrim Hospital in Boston.
As part of United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust’s (ULHT) ongoing patient experience programme, and following recommendations highlighted in the Keogh Review, non-executive director Tim Staniland is looking to evaluate and adopt it across the trust.
As ULHT is moving to become a member-based organisation, a number of public members who had expressed an interest in patient experience were recruited to take part in the challenge.
The members were split into six teams and were taken round every ward, department and clinical area within the hospital to identify improvements that could be made to enhance the patient’s experience.
Each member of the team was asked to consider one of four key areas when making their assessments – is the area welcoming; safe; caring and involving and well organised and calm. The teams were accompanied by a director and member of staff from either Lincoln or Grantham hospitals.
Speaking about the challenge Jennie Negus, deputy director of nursing said: “Patients and staff both have high expectations for safe, good quality care, delivered in welcoming and clean environments.
“The positive feedback from many of the teams was that staff were welcoming, friendly and caring and that the wards felt calm and well-organised.”