Creative ways NHS hospitals improve patients' visits to A&E UK

Main Category: Pain / Anesthetics
Article Date: 06 Apr 2004 - 0:00 PDT


A&E Patient Experience Champion, Jonathan Asbridge, today launched an NHS Estates progress report, showing some of the creative ways in which hospitals across the NHS are improving patients' visits to A&E.

NHS Estates report - improving A&E environments for patients and staff.

Jonathan Asbridge said:

"People in A&E are often in pain and under great stress. Meeting the needs of this wide mix of adults, children and older people all at the same time is a major challenge. This report shows some of the inventive and unique ways in which we can improve everybody's experience of A&E.

"Often, it is just as simple as good lighting, comfy seats and a good standard of cleanliness that can help people feel more relaxed and positive about the care they receive. Now that people are being treated faster than ever before, it is my job to ensure that these effectively simple improvements are made.

"We have allocated �10,000 to every A&E department where a modern matron is in post to help improve patient experience. This report will help spread this good work out to even more A&Es, and hopefully improve the experience of thousands more patients."

Peter Wearmouth, Chief Executive of NHS Estates, said:

"There is an increasing recognition of the importance of the environment, ensuring that it helps staff do their jobs safely and effectively, and creates a healing, supportive environment for patients and visitors. High quality, well planned environments can make a real difference to the patient experience. This document shares practical examples from a wide range of NHS teams, and I hope it will provide inspiration to many others."

Patients have very clear ideas about what they would like to see and how they would like to be treated when they come into an accident and emergency department. Market research has shown that many visitors feel a poorly maintained building is not consistent with high quality healthcare. Improvements in the physical environment make them feel more positive about the care they are likely to receive.

Patients tell us they would like to see:

-- A good standard of cleanliness
-- Comfortable seating
-- No graffiti, litter or vandalism
-- Appropriate colours on walls
-- Adequate lighting
-- Practical floor coverings
-- Drinks machines available
-- Electronic information screens
-- Hygienic and safe play areas for children

In a clean, tidy, well-decorated and suitably lit space patients' perceptions are increasingly positive.

They report:

-- Feelings of calmness and wellbeing
-- Feeling more respected and valued
-- Feeling that they are seen as individuals rather than as a mass group
-- Receiving better treatment and having a better experience
-- Feeling less stressed

If patients find the area a pleasant and comfortable place to be they are less likely to become agitated during their wait. Providing patients with distractions such as music and art will improve the atmosphere and help divert their mind from pain and distress.

Recent research has suggested that the presence of plants can positively affect our ability to tolerate temporary pain. The implications of this work are significant. Not only can plants contribute to the sense of calm which is so necessary in stressful and sensitive situations but their presence may also increase the tolerance of patients suffering mild to moderate pain.

The layout of seating arrangements can also make a big difference. Traditional seating plans arranged along the side of the room of in rows across the centre inhibit communication between patients and visitors. Comfortable, moveable furniture arranged in small flexible groupings increases the sense of intimacy and levels of interaction and support reducing stress for patients and visitors.

Good design can bring significant improvements in a range of issues from staff morale to the reduction of violence but most importantly it can improve the patient experience and consequently patient outcomes.

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