COPD Care Checklist

Putting data in the hands of patients

to drive care quality
and reduce hospital admissions
 2

Project credits

Lead organisation
NHS Redbridge

Partner organisations
NHS ONEL (Outer North-East London)
UCL Partners
Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust
NECLES HIEC
Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry Queen Mary University
Innovation Unit

Lead clinician
Professor Mike Roberts

Supported by The Health Foundation SHINE 2011 programme

May 2012
3

Contents

5 Project summary

The problem
6 COPD care context

7 Aims of the project

Hypotheses
8 Patient engagement
9 Impacts

Methods
10 A patient-led methodology

The COPD Care Checklist

12 The final checklist design
17 What was not included?

Measuring impact
18 Quantitative and qualitative impact

Key findings
20 Statistical data
22 What patients told us
26 What clinicians told us
29 Opportunities for system improvement

Analysis
30 The impact of the project

Learning from the project

32 Patient education and engagement
33 The importance of relationships
34 A new model of patient education and engagement
36 The process: a patient-led methodology

38 Conclusion
 4

Project summary

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary disease (COPD) affects The project team worked closely with patients,
1 million people in the UK and costs the NHS £491 million carers and clinicians in NHS Redbridge over a period of
a year, primarily due to secondary care. COPD 12 months. The key intervention, the development of a
exacerbations account for over a million bed-days COPD Care Checklist, encouraged a new form of
a year in England alone. relationship which centred around patients being
informed and confident enough to become significant
Through talking to patients we know that they want and active partners in the management of their
to be active partners in dealing with their condition condition.
and that they appreciate the value of personalised
information. When given the right support, they are keen
to take recommended self-management steps and
engage with clinicians to demand and create better care.

The aim of this project was to explore and test the

impact of providing COPD patients with personalised
information on their condition and the level of quality
they should expect to receive in their care, together with
information on care costs. We wanted to understand
how patients would react to this information and what
subsequent actions they might take. It was predicted
that this would drive both improvement in primary care
and encourage better self-management, in turn lowering
secondary care costs.
5

The problem
COPD care context

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an Key barriers were identified as:
umbrella term for a number of chronic lung conditions,
including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. — Patients and carers are often unaware of what
constitutes optimal care, or of the community-based
The condition affects 1 million people in the UK and in services available to them.
2010 was the sixth most common cause of death in
England and Wales. It’s estimated that by 2020 it will — When an exacerbation occurs, many patients go
be the third largest cause of death globally. Much of directly to A&E. The vast majority of these patients had
the £491 million NHS spend centres around not previously been given self-management advice or the
secondary (often emergency) care following often-pre- tools to handle times of crisis.
ventable exacerbations (or ‘flare-ups’) of the condition.
These exacerbations account for over a million bed-days — Patients often notice changed symptoms for some
a year in England alone. days before the admission occurs, suggesting that
preventive intervention is possible if patients know how
Though several interventions have been proven to to, and feel able to, access appropriate services at the
reduce exacerbations and hospital admission rates, onset of warning signs.
these aren’t always translated into practice and a high
proportion of patients are not receiving optimal care (as — Patients do not feel able to manage their own care
defined by the 2010 NICE guidelines). or feel in control of the decisions being made – care is
‘done to them’ rather than decided with them.
The cost of unscheduled care is largely unappreciated
by patients and is not linked to quality of care at GP and — Confidence and competence levels also vary among
commissioner level. Adherence to NICE guidance is seen clinicians, and there is limited joint working and joint
as being medically desirable but is not explicitly linked to decision making between primary care clinicians and
costs and commissioning. patients.
 6

Aims of the project

The aims of the project were as follows: To support these aims, a series of desired impacts
were identified:
1. Provide individualised information to patients on their
care within the NICE COPD Quality Standards, using a Impact on patients
checklist approach.
Altering the balance of power between patients and the
2. Provide general cost information to people with health-care system, enabling them to become active
COPD. partners in the management of their condition and to
drive improvements in care provision.
3. Provide information to primary care clinical teams on
their care delivery against the NICE Quality Standards.
Impact on GPs
4. Enhance patients’ confidence in their ability to
manage their condition. Ensure GPs are supported to develop skills in the
management of patients in line with the 2010 NICE
guidelines. As patients become more able to manage
their long-term condition the weight of responsibility felt
by their GPs will reduce.

Impact on the wider system

A reduction in avoidable hospital admissions, with the

dual benefits of cost savings and increased ability to
treat patients who are critically and acutely unwell.
7

Hypotheses
Patient engagement

The driving hypothesis for the project was that providing An assumed model of patient engagement and behaviour
personalised information on COPD care to both GPs change was used to support this hypothesis, which
and patients would result in a set of changes, in the shows the points of influence at which the project inputs
categories of: awareness, engagement, specific actions and GPs could assist patients’ progress.
taken, and changes to long-term behaviour.

Aims
Increased use of primary care and self-management
Reduction in secondary/emergency care
Cost savings

Better use of care pathways

Making better choices in terms of both GP actions:
personal health and local health economy Improvements in quality of
care (NICE guidelines)

Input: Better care management GP actions:

Data on options available Change in behaviours Better referrals/signposts
and information on costs to providers; encourage use
of primary care services

Increased engagement
Patients are able to identify symptoms, GP actions:
Input: pre-empt crises and become proactive in Respond to patient demand
Data/information tool their care management to meet NICE guidelines

Increased interest
Input: Leads to increase in demand GP actions:
Patient and condition data from patients Collect and share data

Increased knowledge

Patient disengagement
Hypotheses 8

Impacts

More specific impacts on patients, clinicians and

the system were predicted to be as follows:

Impact on patients Impact on the system

— Increase in knowledge of options, routes for help, — Increase in patient demand for quality services
what to do in a crisis, better understanding of condition through increased awareness of the gap between NICE
and how to manage it – leading to increased confidence. standards and current quality received, driving
improvements in quality of care and embedding
— Patient empowerment, autonomy and an increase NICE guidelines into GPs’ working practice.
in responsibility and control, leading to improved self-
management, adherence to prescription medications — A positive altering of the relationship between
(compliance stemming from understanding) and good patients and clinicians.
health behaviours. All encouraged by an increased
awareness of the impact of poor use of healthcare — Increased use of primary care services (and, by
services in both health and financial terms. extension, a reduction in emergency care).

— Increased engagement with condition resulting in — Cost-savings due to the reduction in exacerbation-
both specific actions taken and long-term behaviour triggered secondary care use (emergency and hospital
change. admissions).

Impact on clinicians

— A change in GPs’/nurses’ working practices as a

reaction to patients articulating needs / demanding
change and through access to visualised and
personalised data about a patient’s condition.

— GPs able to identify gaps in care at individual patient

level through the provision of data on quality of care and
costs.

— Greater appreciation of the impact of poor use of

healthcare services in terms of patients’ health outcomes
and the local health economy.
9

Methods
A patient-led methodology

Ten GP practices within the NHS Redbridge area We therefore used a patient-led methodology, involving
volunteered to participate in the project, comprising a the use of workshops, interviews and discussions with
total of 588 COPD patients. clinicians and patients, and iterative prototyping of an
information tool design.
The demographic of the project user group required a
process that would enable a patient-led and iterative From these initial conversations a prototype COPD Care
design process. COPD patients, as a group, have below- Checklist was developed, using a traffic-light system
average literacy levels and a lower than average access to indicate where each patient’s care was (or was not)
to technology. Many in the user group had not been meeting targets.
presented with personal data in a similar format before,
especially not concerning their health. In order to develop an effective checklist, we identified
the need to utilise qualitative primary research and a
process of prototyping to help shape its design and
communication. A number of core methods of gathering
insights into patient experience were used.
Methods | A patient-led methodology 10

Focus group and co-design sessions Home-based interviews and prototyping

This was carried out with a diverse mix of 40 patients The prototype was used to support two-hour
in September 2011. The session adopted a co-design conversational interviews with patients in their homes.
process, where patients engaged in discussions and
activities with GPs, practice nurses and the project team. These explored broader contextual and situational
Visual design tools were used to support and capture barriers and enablers to engagement with information
thinking. received about their condition and care. Researchers also
explored ways of communicating information in order to
Patient recommendations and insights into the barriers have the biggest effect on patient behaviour.
and enablers for patients to engage with data were
worked into the checklist design. Several versions of the
checklist were tested with patient focus groups to refine
content and style.

Measurement and evaluation

Prototyping

Research and design

COPD

Co-design Prototype Home Checklist Telephone Home Co-design Practitioner Checklist

sessions Design v1 visits Design v2 interviews visits sessions interviews Design v3
+ patient + patient
questionnaire questionnaire
11

The COPD Care Checklist

The final checklist design

The COPD Care Checklist takes the form of a folded A3

sheet of paper. The front cover comprises:

— An explanation of the purpose of the checklist, the

‘traffic light system’ and what patients should do if they
have any amber or red lights.

— A prompt for patients to take their checklist with

them to their GP or nurse and use it as a tool with which
to talk about their care.
The COPD Care Checklist | The final checklist design 12

Mike Roberts

Goodmayes Medical Centre

13 The COPD Care Checklist | The final checklist design

The inside spread is divided into sections covering six of

the NICE guidelines on COPD care quality:

— Annual COPD Review (length of time since last

review).
— Post-bronchodilator spirometry test.
— Smoking cessation status.
— Referral to pulmonary rehabilitation.
— Inhaler technique.
— Support with self-management plans and
rescue packs.

This data is personalised for each patient according to

his or her GP records. Each section is allocated a green,
amber or red light. If a light is green, no actions are
required; a red or amber alerts patients to take actions
including booking a GP appointment.
 The COPD Care Checklist | The final checklist design

6. Support with
self-management
Contact your GP to
talk about getting a
self-management plan
with a rescue pack.
14
15 The COPD Care Checklist | The final checklist design

The back page contains: care, to demonstrate the cost benefit of preventive care.

— Contact details, laid out to suggest a ‘ladder’ of — A final paragraph reminds patients about what their
severity, with a 999 call being the last option in the list. next steps should be. They are asked to check the six
areas on the checklist and make contact with their local
— Example costs of both preventive and emergency GP or Nurse if they have any red or amber lights.

0208 590 1169

Go
The COPD Care Checklist 16

What was not included?

Medication information Personalised cost information

The checklist was originally designed to include Personalised costing information was included in the
personalised medication information, specifically on prototype checklist design – again, practical data-
inhalers. There were practical difficulties in achieving this collection issues made this difficult to achieve. More
due to issues with data and confidentiality. Conversations importantly, feedback from patients was that this
with patients also revealed that they were much ran the risk of being counterproductive, conveying
more concerned that there knew how to take their an ‘accusatory’ tone with the possibility of alienating
medications (specifically inhaler technique) rather than patients further. A recurring theme during workshops
which they had been prescribed. and interviews was a desire on the part of patients not
to be a ‘burden’ to the NHS and those caring for them –
Information on flu and pneumonia jabs were also not the personalisation of costs in many cases increased this
included as research shows that practices were already worry.
handling these mass-vaccination programmes effectively.
17

Measuring impact
Quantitative and qualitative impact

Quantitative impact

Individual patient-level data relating to the six key areas

of focus was collected before and after patients received
the checklist. The same data extraction was carried
out for the practices in a control group of 10 practices
(755 patients) whose patients did not receive checklists.
Data was also gathered on COPD hospital admissions to
measure the impact on secondary care services.

Qualitative impact

The nature of behaviour change, change in attitudes of Patient events and questionnaires
patients and the nature of patient-clinician relationships
are difficult to capture in quantitative terms. We A second workshop in April 2012 focused on gathering
therefore continued our patient-led methodology through patient and practice feedback on the checklist. It
a combination of a number of research methods – explored the perceptions of patients in the following
workshops, questionnaires, telephone and face-to-face areas, in light of having received the checklist:
interviews – with both patients and clinicians to build up
a picture of the impact of the project in these areas and — their knowledge of their condition and the options
from which to draw some of our key insights. available to them;

The reaction of patients and clinicians to the checklist — how their viewed the relationship with their GP; and
and its ambitions was overwhelmingly positive.
— how they could be better supported by the checklist
and other materials to improve both of the above.
Telephone interviews
The workshop combined semi-structured discussions
Semi-structured telephone interviews were carried out with facilitated activities to explore the possible uses of
with 20 patients following the checklists having been the checklists in different situations. Representatives
sent to patients. These gauged the levels of awareness from primary and secondary care services helped
of and engagement with checklists, whether facilitate discussions/activities and answered questions.
subsequent actions had occurred and if there had
been a more sustained change in behaviour. General At the initial workshop at the start of the project,
feedback on the look and design of the checklist was patients were asked to fill in a baseline questionnaire
also gathered. covering levels of knowledge of their COPD and the
treatment and services available; confidence in managing
their condition; and what matters most on a day-to-day
Face-to-face interviews basis. The questionnaire was repeated at the second
workshop with two added filter questions: whether
Extended home interviews were carried out with four patients had received a checklist and whether the
patients. These explored further the themes discussed in information it contained was accurate and useful.
telephone interviews, with an evaluation of the checklist
and how it could be used as a support tool playing a
central role.
Measuring impact | Quantitative and qualitative impact 18
19

Key findings
Statistical data
Percentage of patients who had a
Data from practices spirometry test in the previous 15
months
As the checklist was sent out in February 2012 and the
comparison data extracted in April 2012, the data from Pre-intervention Post-intervention
practices and on hospital admissions covers only an
eight-week time span. Given this, the early results are
very promising, particularly in the increased numbers
of patients receiving spirometry tests, pulmonary
rehabilitation referrals and self-management plans.

Key Control group Shine group

7% 9% 4% 18%

Percentage of patients who had Percentage of patients who had

an annual review in the previous 12 been referred to pulmonary rehab
months in previous 15 months

Pre-intervention Post-intervention Pre-intervention Post-intervention

60% 61% 74% 70% 2% 1% 2% 6%

Percentage of patients given self Percentage of patients admitted to

management plan with rescue pack hospital in previous 15 months

Pre-intervention Post-intervention Pre-intervention Post-intervention

9% 7% 13% 20% 25% 32% 23% 29%

Key findings | Statistical data 20

Questionnaire responses

The questionnaire responses represent a small sample

of around 40 patients; however, the results are
extremely positive and reinforced the findings from our
conversations with patients and clinicians alike.

How well informed do you feel about How much do you know about what doctors/
your disease? nurses should be doing for you?

Pre-intervention Post-intervention Pre-intervention Post-intervention

Key Not at all Quite Nothing Quite a lot

A little Very informed A little Everything

How aware are you of the services available How confident are you about managing your own
to you? condition?

Pre-intervention Post-intervention Pre-intervention Post-intervention

Key Not at all Quite aware Not at all Quite confident

A little aware Very aware A little Very confident

21 Key findings

What patients told us

Patients noted particular advantages in the areas of

increasing knowledge of and engagement with their “ It’ll help everybody.
COPD care, building confidence and empowerment,
an increase in their levels of self-management, and an Most of it I know
improvement in the relationship with their GP.
but it’s a reminder…
Increasing knowledge and engagement Other people are
Patients reported that, due to the checklist, they feel apt to give way and
more informed about their disease, are much more aware
of what their doctors and nurse should be doing for them become invalids and
and feel more confident in managing their own condition.
not try. I think all the
How far along the engagement scale a patient already
was had a strong impact on how useful they found the explanations will help
checklist and, in some cases, whether the amount of
information was felt to be overwhelming. Patients who them. ”
were already unsure about their condition and did not
feel they had control over it said that they needed extra
help to understand it and how it related to their COPD.
For a small number the amount of information was a “ The more explanations
barrier to the first step of interacting with the checklist
– more explanation and support, and not just more you give to people with
information, was required.
COPD… it’ll help them
Conversely, patients who already had a good grasp of
their COPD and issues associated with it found the see the situation and
information on the checklist helpful and said that the
design was very straightforward and that it was very to give themselves
useful to have everything in one place. Many commented
positively on the inclusion of self-management more encouragement
information and the emphasis on putting control into
patients’ hands. and help themselves a
bit more. ”
Key findings | What patients told us 22

Changing behaviour
“ My doctor explained it
Most patients interviewed said that they would take
the checklist with them to their next GP or nurse all to me. That’s why I
appointment, for a variety of reasons:
stay with her, because
— For help in understanding the checklist and their
condition overall. she’s interested.
— To raise something specific flagged up on the The other doctors
checklist that they wanted more information about.
are so busy they’re
— To act as a prompt to question their GP about
something that their GP hadn’t covered. doing every ailment
As borne out in the quantitative data, patients reported that comes in the
that they had arranged GP/nurse appointments and
asked for annual reviews, spirometry tests or about door, but my doctor
pulmonary rehab because of receiving the checklist –
either because it had reminded them they hadn’t had concentrates on it.
a checkup for a while or because they wanted to talk
through a specific issue that the checklist had raised. It was a good thing
having the checklist
with me. ”
23 Key findings | What patients told us

Reaction to generic cost information

Most patients found the cost information interesting

and informative but without necessarily making the link “ A lot of people don’t
between preventive self-management and a reduction in
emergency care costs. want to know about
For some patients, the impact went deeper and had the costs. But it opens
actively encouraged them to take better care of
themselves, not just for their own health but as a way your eyes to see what
of taking responsibility for their care and explicitly
supporting the NHS by ‘doing their bit’. the National Health
Service are doing for
you, and therefore:
play the game. If
they’re spending all
this money then play
the game and do the
thing properly. ”
Key findings | What patients told us 24

A small number, however, found it worrying and thought

it ran the risk of making people feel guilty for using any “ If I need an ambulance,
services at all, discouraging them from making non-
essential appointments. These people saw the GP cost I’m not thinking ‘it’s
as being quite high without comparing or relating this
to the much higher costs of emergency care. At worst, costing 279 quid’,
these patients found the information alarming and
alienating or thought that it was accusatory in tone. I’m just thinking, ‘is
someone going to save
my life, because I need
it’. What is the point of
telling me that a 999
call costs 279 pounds? ”
“ I’ve still got mixed
feelings about why it’s
on there. Part of me
felt a bit insulted when
I read that... this is my
entitlement, I’m not
going to abuse it but
perhaps other people
do. I’m sure they do. ”
25 Key findings

What clinicians told us

Our interviews with clinicians supported the conclusions

that the checklist has been a valuable tool in the “ The attitudes that we
following areas:
have seen change,
Combining detailed information, assisting in
monitoring patients’ progress and checking levels of are patients taking
care, and giving clinicians a mandate to request care
pathways for patients. on board that they do
have a chronic disease,
the checklist has
made us focus more
“ When it comes to the on what we put in our
rescue pack, they notes, how we record
are now confident in everything we are
asking for it, and I am doing with the patient
confident in going to and ensure the patient
the GP and saying does understand their
‘look, this patient has condition and why we
been told they can have are doing the things
one, lets do one’. ” we are doing. ”
Nurse Practice manager
Key findings | What clinicians told us 26

Embedding NICE guidelines into daily practice, acting

as a reminder and a tool to prompt conversations “ The fact that
with patients, particularly addressing the concerns of
newly-diagnosed patients or those who view a COPD [patients] come with
diagnosis as having stigma attached.
[the checklist] in their
hand, means they are
prepared to talk about
it, which is sometimes
what you need, you
need that opening in a
consultation. ”
Practice manager
27 Key findings | What clinicians told us

Increasing patients’ and clinicians’ awareness of Increasing patients’ confidence and appetite
services available and increasing services’ awareness for asking questions, requesting explanations, being
of patients – preventing patients from ‘falling through involved in decisions and pushing for better care. An
the gaps’. awareness had arisen that patients often had a number
of questions/queries which they did not bring up during
consultations – the checklist shows that ‘it’s ok to ask’.
“ There are definitely
people who are
“ They feel more
getting the checklist
confident. Most of our
and then talking to
patients who got one
pulmonary rehab, or
came and said ‘I got
that’s how they have
this in the post, can
been referred… The
you explain?’ Which we
way that the checklist
have done. ”
is particularly good is
Nurse
targeting those people
who haven’t been in
contact with other
services, who are not
actually known by
other services. ”
Pulmonary rehab nurse
Key findings 28

Opportunities for system improvement

Some issues with the quality of care and system Accuracy of information
processes arose from the use of the checklists by Many of the checklists contained inaccurate or out-of-
patients and clinicians. This in itself indicates a key date patient data, demonstrating gaps in GP records.
role for the checklist in highlighting gaps in quality In particular, the lack of sharing information between
of care and areas in need of attention. primary/secondary care providers was shown to be a
much more serious problem than some practices were
aware.

Communication between patients and clinicians

Many patients felt that GPs were not relating to them or
treating them as a whole person but as a series of issues
that were dealt with in isolation. In contrast, many GPs
felt patients were not asking enough questions or being
clear enough about their key concerns.

Continuity of care
For example, seeing a different nurse at every
appointment. There is not enough information given
to patients on the roles of different clinicians – GP
were seen as being the gold standard with patients
feeling “fobbed off” if given an appointment with a
nurse, despite nurses often being the most COPD-
knowledgeable clinicians in a practice.

Difficulties in accessing services

There were concerns raised about long waits for
appointments and appointments being too short to
cover more than one issue in any depth. More help could
be given on different places to go for help (e.g. in the
community, pharmacists) and on how to communicate
with clinicians.
29

Analysis
The impact of the project

There have been a number of key impacts Impact on patients

of the project on patients, clinicians and on
system processes, all of which contribute to an Using the structure from our original hypothesis, the
improvement in the quality of care and relocation impact on patients can be categorised in terms of:
of control to patients. If leveraged correctly, this
will lead to a long-term reduction in reliance on — Awareness and understanding
secondary care and a reduction in long-term costs. — Engagement
— Direct actions prompted
— Long-term behaviour change

More specifically, the COPD Care Checklist resulted in

the following changes:

— An increase in patients’ understanding of their

condition and how to manage it; knowledge of the
options available to them, some of the cost implications
involved and the confidence to utilise these; and
awareness of what optimal care should comprise and
how to take steps towards this.

— An increase in patient self-management, not just of

their condition and day-to-day issues but also in terms of
taking active direction of their care and better managing
the relationship with their GP.

— In general, an increased level of engagement with

their condition which has not only prompted patients to
take immediate actions as needed but also instilled long-
term behaviour change.
Analysis | The impact of the project 30

Impact on clinicians A third-party confidant

— Change to GPs’/nurses’ working practices – as a In some practices which were less open to (or did
reaction to patients articulating needs and demanding not have the capacity to support) the rebalancing of
change and through having access to visualised and relationships and increased levels of proactive enquiry
personalised data about the progress of patients’ from patients, the result was an increase in frustration
conditions. for patients who felt they were experiencing barriers
to self-management. Having been prompted by the
— Increased knowledge on the quality of care delivered checklist to address a particular area of care, there was
and embedding of NICE guidelines (vs box ticking) into a sense of “what now?” Patients expressed particular
day-to-day practice. frustration at having to make (and wait for) appointments
with a GP in order to ask questions.
— A positive altering of the relationship with patients –
an appreciation of the importance, impact and appetite An idea posited by patients was that of a third-party
for partnership relationships with patients, and the role of confidant – a patient advocate who could act as a point
patient education in this. of enquiry, answering questions or concerns about care
and next steps and, if necessary, liaise between patients
— An awareness of the importance of primary care and and clinicians. Patients were very open to who this point
prevention, resulting in a more proactive approach. person could be – suggestions included an ‘expert’
patient from their own practice, better use of the existing
— An awareness of problems in data collection and PALS service, or a clinician from other areas of care – for
liaising with primary/secondary/emergency care services. example, a pulmonary rehabilitation nurse.

The nature of the patient-clinician relationship

Beyond the scope of our hypothesis, there is evidence

that the checklist has altered the relationship between
patients and clinicians by empowering patients to ask
questions, acting as a prompt for discussion, and making
it clear on both sides the level of care that should be
received. That the checklist arrives at the patient’s
house and is seen to be owned by them, in addition to its
emphasis on self-management, has helped patients to be
more proactive and feel more in charge of their care. This
has resulted in a significant shift towards relationships
that are:

— more equal partnerships, involving shared

responsibility and a collaborative approach to self-
management, creating personalised care plans and
dealing with difficult issues (in those practices which
were already open to this); and

— characterised by patient challenge and patients

driving change (in those practices which were not).
31

Learning from the project

Patient education and engagement

Education and enquiry

The traditional model of patient education – providing

information to patients about their condition – is helpful “ If you have too much
and empowering, and having a basic level of information
gives patients confidence to ask further questions. - too many pages, or
However, this must be coupled with patients being given too many things - they
the tools with which to understand this information.
Patients overwhelmingly welcomed being given more kind of throw it to the
information as long as it came with explanations and
support attached. Practices likewise said that they’d be side. But this was just
wary of including more ‘information without explanation’.
enough. ”
What empowered patients most was when they were Nurse
able to enter into a spirit of enquiry – being given
questions that they might want to think about, and the
methods with which they could find out more, was much
more effective than being presented with the ‘answers’
that clinicians believed would be most helpful.

The key lessons on patient engagement were therefore:

— The key is instilling a sense of enquiry, of patients

knowing where, when and how to find out more for
themselves, having the confidence to ask questions and
challenge the answers they receive.

— Information must be coupled with explanation. Too

much of the former without context results in confusion
and further disengagement.

— The ‘impactability’ of patients is an important

factor: the impact of providing information varies
depending on how far along the engagement/confidence
journey patients already are. There is a risk of driving
further disengagement and a sense of ‘floundering’ by
overloading patients with too much information and
responsibility before they are ready.
Learning from the project 32

The importance of relationships

A key finding was that instilling, fostering and The feeling of both patients and practices was that the
managing good relationships between patients and checklist was helping to rebalance these relationships,
GPs could be just as important as managing and treating transferring autonomy and confidence to patients and
the physical aspects of COPD. moving them towards the ideal model.

A picture of both an ideal and detrimental GP-patient

relationship model arose from the conversations we had
with patients and clinicians, with a desire expressed on
both sides to work together to improve this picture.

Detrimental GP–patient relationship Ideal GP–patient relationship

GP’s view Patient’s view GP’s view Patient’s view

Patient’s needs/ Imbalanced, authoritarian Equal partnership with Care and self-management
concerns not always – told what to do with no shared responsibility plan as a joint endeavour
clearly expressed, or not explanation for improving care and
expressed early enough in condition Know where and how to
the process Judgemental – particularly ask questions
around smoking Conversations easier
Lack of compliance with and more structured and Feel able to influence
advice (e.g. stopping Overloaded with confusing balanced decisions and initiate a joint
antibiotics courses early) information decision-making process
Patients able to articulate
Patients reluctant to ask Conversations only on more clearly their Sense of enquiry – able
questions GP’s terms questions and concerns to find out about things
myself or with my GP
Stigma of COPD diagnosis Difficult to ask questions Patients help embed NICE
– difficult to get patient about the process or guidelines into working Able to challenge care
to talk about it and begin question GP’s advice practice received and drive change
discussions around care
Not wanting to seem like a Have the data, tools and
burden knowledge available to be
proactive about patient’s
Accepting care without care
question even if it doesn’t
feel right or I know I won’t
see it through
33 Learning from the project

A new model of patient education and

engagement

Aims

Increased use of primary care and self-management

Reduction in secondary/emergency care
Cost savings

Better care management

6 (changed behaviour and system view)

Patients are able to identify symptoms,

pre-empt crises and become proactive in
their care management

Sustained engagement

5
Establishment of critical relationship with GP

4
Increased patient-led enquiry

3
Increased confidence to manage

2 condition, discuss and demand

Increased knowledge

1 Both personal (of condition)

and system (how it works)

Patient disengagement
Learning from the project | A new model of patient education and engagement 34

6 Better care management

GP actions: Improvement in quality of care (according to NICE guidelines), continued support of patients’
capacity to manage their care.
System changes: Valuing of patient-clinician relationship both contractually and culturally (including
allocating time for this purpose).

5 Sustained engagement
Inputs: Communication: of data (checklist) and as part of GP-patient relationship, continuity of data
(timely, accurate, relevant) and relationships, and turning actions into tangible outcomes.
GP actions: Personalisation of referrals, including context, history, patient choice and explanation.

4 Establishment of critical relationship with GP

Inputs: Checklist as a relationship/conversation tool.
GP actions: Being open to a critical relationship.
System changes: Clear and sustained communication pathways between GP and other
primary/secondary/emergency care providers.
Third party acting as confidant and point of enquiry for patients.

3 Increased patient-led enquiry

Inputs: Personalised data on options available; information on costs.
GP actions: Being open and responsive to patient and third-party enquiry

2 Increased confidence to manage, discuss and

demand
System changes: Increased and reinforced opportunities for data-driven conversations between clinicians
and patients.

1 Increased knowledge
Inputs: Personal data; self-management plan; checklist as a conveyor of information and explanation.
GP actions: Systematic data collection with intent to use.
System changes: Better information systems and expanded option formats for holding patient information.
35 Learning from the project

The process: a patient-led methodology

The project process highlighted a number of key Build a community of stakeholders – and do it early.
elements which need to be in place for a patient- Identify the change agents – those individuals who will
led approach to be successful. work to leverage change at different levels of the system.
These included practice managers, nurses and GPs (and
varied from practice to practice) and patients. Engage
Prototype, don’t just pilot patients early (e.g. through informal workshops) so that
pressure for change is drawn through a bottom-up
Adopting a pilot-based approach means creating a single process, not top-down.
hypothesis to test and evaluate. But when working on
an innovation project in a new area, such as personalised Working closely with practices was key in both leveraging
data and cost sharing, it is crucial to instead use a their engagement and ensuring that data was accurate
process that enables the testing and refining of a number and delivered effectively. Relationships with patients
of ideas and hypotheses. This is particularly relevant were paramount to ensuring that they fed honest and
when adopting a patient-led process of development productive, views into the process.
as multiple hypotheses can be posited, some of which
might directly contradict others. Prototyping affords an
opportunity to test these ideas while still generating new Make value explicit and tangible
ideas – saving resources and ensuring the success of
an innovation is not dependent on the quality of a single The value of sharing data with patients was an unknown
hypothesis. for many practices (and, indeed, patients). As we
began to see impact this was quickly fed back to all
Having users involved in the design of prototypes also stakeholders engaged. Videos from patient interviews,
makes the later feedback more valuable and specific. quotes and data sources were very useful in engaging
people with the value of the innovation and this
leveraged support.

Make the ambition clear from the outset

It was key that all project stakeholders knew that the
ambition was to trial the innovation in order to role it out
across COPD in Redbridge. Communicating this ambition
increased their engagement and ensured they were
committed to developing the most effective checklist.
Learning from the project | The process: a patient-led methodology 36

Value new forms of evidence Flagging energy levels

There is often a general understanding that qualitative The project relied greatly on the project team keeping
data entails less rigorous and robust evidence. This is the momentum going. This meant there was a risk of
often due to the smaller sample sizes, the more complex time drift – day-to-day issues dominated even in the
ways of reading and representing impacts and the most engaged practices. This can be mitigated by
more indirect implications on cost. We would strongly making the case that it will be of benefit to practices in
argue that In-depth discussions with key people (e.g. the long-term and getting buy-in early.
from different defined patient categories), repeated
throughout the process, are more valuable than a lot Similarly, there was a risk of disengaging patients from
of surface questioning with a huge cohort without the process if relationship not seen as reciprocal – there
continuity. was a need to demonstrate that progress is being made,
changes are happening, the project and health service is
not just listening to what they think but also acting on it.
Recognise the threat of change

Some patients were anxious and/or resistant to new Innovation is difficult

forms of communication and relationships with health
care professionals, seeing it as a threat to the existing Many practices struggled to achieve simple tasks and
care they received. Many in the COPD patient group needed a great deal of peripheral support. Practices
showed high levels of resilience, but for some this were also aware that collecting and collating data about
translated as resistance to change. Attention was patient care might highlight gaps in care provision.
needed to ensure open discussion and communication Relationships between the project managers and
throughout the project. The new innovation of exposing practices, as well as linking the work back to the needs
patients to the costs of services caused a great deal of of patients as often as possible to keep them high in
anxiety in some cases and needed careful explanation in stakeholders’ minds, were key in ensuring sustained
order not to increase disengagement. engagement.
37

Conclusion

The COPD checklist is a significant product in the The project also emphasised the need to effectively
development of COPD healthcare practices. However, involve patients, families, carers and professionals in the
it is just one of a range of innovations that are needed design and testing of a healthcare information product to
in order to ensure that we maximize the value of the ensure it is meaningful for all involved in managing a long-
relationships between healthcare professionals and term condition. This is a progressive move for health-
patients. The project highlighted the value created care innovation and highlights the fact that we cannot
by empowering patients with basic information, rely solely on processes of consultation and engagement,
communicated in simple terms, on the quality of their but must instead afford patients and professionals the
healthcare. This presents the NHS with an exciting opportunity to play active and leading roles in design and
opportunity to continue to evolve the amount and innovation.
type of data that is both collected by practices and
communicated to patients in order to drive radical
improvements in the quality of treatment and
management of long-term health conditions.

Watch a video of the project here:

www.vimeo.com/42194049

Password: copdchecklist