Commenting on the King’s Fund patient-centred leadership report, Sir Richard Thompson, president of the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), said:
Clinicians desperately want to provide high quality care, but problems with systems and resources can often make it difficult for doctors and nurses to treat their patients well. In the RCP’s recent report, Hospitals on the edge?, physicians reported a lack of continuity of care as their biggest concern about the current health service. We know that is also of great concern to patients.
Patient pathways must be designed around patients’ needs, and we should understand that these needs are changing.
Nearly two-thirds of people admitted to hospital are over 65 years old, and an increasing number are frail or have dementia. However, too often hospital buildings, services and staff are not equipped to deal with the increasing number of patients with multiple, complex needs.
It is time for new ways of thinking, with fresh ideas such as recruiting one or more patients to trust boards to improve quality.
The RCP has set out to tackle many of the problems outlined in this report through our ground breaking Future Hospital Commission, which is reviewing the standards and processes for care of patients in hospital, and is due to report later this year.
For further information, please contact Andrew McCracken, RCP Communications and New Media Adviser, on +44 (0)203 075 1354 / 07990 745 608, or email andrew.mccracken@rcplondon.ac.uk