Guidance for Integrated Care Pathways: A Reference Document for an Acute NHS Trust

Abstract

A Commission for Health Improvement (CHI) review highlighted the need for integrated care pathways (ICPs) within our Trust and a working party was formed to guide their development. From a survey of current awareness and activity the committee identified several priorities: • creating awareness and interest • initiating learning programmes for interested staff • developing support structure for enthusiasts • defining the process of ratification • formulating Trust style. Leaflets were circulated to all departments to stimulate interest and a seminar programme was introduced with staff from key areas being targeted. An intranet site was authored with lists of support staff, details of in-house resources and links to external agencies. This was backed up with a paper resource folder in central and departmental libraries. A degree of harmonisation of style was seen as being potentially advantageous by facilitating the use of ICPs across directorates. A Trust pro forma style was produced to guide and ease this process. It was suggested that a document that explained the nature of ICPs, detailed Trust policy and provided tips for authorship would be a useful reference for those new to creating ICPs. Guidance for Integrated Care Pathways was written with these aims in mind. It was co-authored by three members of the committee and circulated for comments. After ratification by the Trust board it was posted on the intranet site and included in the resource folder. It is a working document that is reviewed regularly, and is intended to facilitate the process and not to be overly prescriptive. Comments and suggestions from throughout the Trust are welcomed.