Abstract
This article describes the application of quality improvement (QI) to solve a long-standing, ongoing problem where service users or their carers felt they were not given enough information regarding diagnosis and medication during clinic assessments in a community mental health setting. Service users and carers had shared feedback that some of the information documented on clinic letters was not accurate and the service users were not given the opportunity to discuss these letters with the clinician. The aim of this QI project was to improve the communication between the community mental health team (CMHT) and service users and their carers. Wardown CMHT volunteered to take on this project. The stakeholders involved were the team manager and deputy manager, the team consultant, the team specialist registrar, team administrative manager, two carers and one service user. The project had access to QI learning and support through East London NHS Foundation Trust’s QI programme. The team organised weekly meetings to brainstorm ideas, plan tests of change to review progress and to agree on the next course of action. The outcome was an increase in service user satisfaction from 59.9% to 78% over a period of 6 months, and a reduction in complaints to zero.
Highlights
Luton is a large town situated in the south of England
The 2016 population figure for Luton, as published according to the Office of National Statistics was 216 800, with some parts of the unitary authority being dense in population, even when compared with London boroughs
Luton is an ethnically diverse town, with approximately 55% of the population being of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic origin, with significant Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Indian, East European and African Caribbean communities
Summary
Luton is a large town situated in the south of England. The 2016 population figure for Luton, as published according to the Office of National Statistics was 216 800, with some parts of the unitary authority being dense in population, even when compared with London boroughs. Luton is an ethnically diverse town, with approximately 55% of the population being of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic origin, with significant Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Indian, East European and African Caribbean communities. Luton is increasingly being viewed as a ‘super-diverse’ community. According to the Projecting Adult Needs and Service Information estimates, between 22 872 and 23 971 people living in Luton have some sort of mental health problem and between 9559 and 10 036 have two or more psychiatric. The psychiatric disorders range from the more common mood disorders, schizophrenia to the more complex post-traumatic stress disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and personality disorders
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