The true value of patient engagement

After 3 months abroad, my first week returned to my desk has been mostly spent reacquainting myself with what’s been going on in Healthcare. Being confident that no-one (except perhaps Andrew McClellan @HSJeditor) would be able to accurately digest  and regurgitate the entire sector in a week I settled for getting to grips with a selection of current themes.

After some exploratory googling, ‘patient engagement and its inherent value’ had piqued my interest. Nesta had recently suggested that the NHS in England could expect to save £4.4bn per annum in their recently published ‘Business Case for People Powered Health’.

For the past 6 years MES has been helping public and staff members of Foundation Trusts to influence their health providers. And now perhaps the other side of the coin is beginning to weigh-in with equal value, as we look to our clinicians to engage with patients to positively affect their behaviour.  

I learned from Forbes.com that pharmaceutical advertising in the states has been decreased for the 4^th consecutive year. However spend from Weight Watchers has been steadily increasing. Back on this side of the Atlantic it is common knowledge Doctors have regularly topped the list of most trusted professions since the yearly poll began in 1983.

Last year NHS Bedfordshire managed to lower the number of no-shows for appointments by 30% using 3 behaviour change techniques. At present it is easy to measure the financial cost of ‘Did not attends’, and therefore easy to justify spend on that mode of engagement. The good news is that it looks as though more value will be placed on this sort of activity.

Looks who's back...

 

If you work with us here at MES or follow us on Twitter or here on the blog, you may have noticed that Paul our Head of  Business Development has been a little quiet recently.  Well for the last three months he's been on sabbatical travelling the world.  During his travels he went skiing in France, and then travelled extensively through Central America visting places like Guatamala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama.  

 

 

Well he's now back, getting used to the British weather again (his plane landed at Heathrow in a snow storm!) and getting stuck in.  He'll be back writing on the blog as well, so expect to hear from him soon.

 

Postcard from an Election Observer

For the last seven days i've not been in the MES office, i've been in Macedonia observing their local elections as part of a OSCE Election Observation Mission.  The OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) is an international organisation made up of 57 member states who meet together to look at a number of issues relating to security cooperation in the region.  They also cover human rights and democracy and one of their most prominent activities is the observation of elections in their member states.

So it was through this process that I found myself on a flight to Skopje last week to join up with a group of observers from around the world (I believe at least twenty coutries were represented).  The other observers came from all walks of life, we had people who were part of international efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, others who were working on the humanitarian situation in Sudan, and we also had people who worked in local councils or central government departments here in the UK.  We even had a few people who'd stood for election themselves in the past.

How do I get the Foundation Trust Governors I want?

As somebody who has been immersed in the NHS Foundation Trust sector for the past 3 years, people often ask me in ‘FT’ circles (I suspect only half-joking), how to get the governors they want. More specifically, “how do I avoid having this particular awkward do-gooder with a first class degree in obstructive behaviour from the National Institute for Aggressive Soapboxing (NIAS), from making my life as Governor co-ordinator extremely difficult?” 

Hitting the target, but missing the point

Today the Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt speaks at a health conference in Surrey on standards in the NHS, the dangers highlighted by the Francis report and of the risks of mediocrity or aiming simply not to “come last”.

In his speech he uses one phrase (originally coined by NHS Chief Executive David Nicholson) which particularly resonates with me, and regardless of political persuasion, I think is a pretty good sound bite.  He suggests “Hospitals are hitting targets but missing the point”.

Clinical performance and safety are naturally amongst the highest priorities within the NHS, and I think that is where the Minister’s sentiment may be directed.  However it can also be applied as a warning to the world of membership and engagement in the NHS.  MES was set up to help organisations develop and deliver meaningful engagement and that is a core part of our day-to-day ethos.  But does it feed through into the increasingly busy and stretched membership offices of NHS Foundation Trusts?  Is the focus on hitting targets and as such misses the point?  And what will new CCGs focus on given they too have a clear remit to engage with local health communities and the public.

Lent and the MES Pancakes

 

Yesterday was that lovely British tradition of pancake day and like most of the country the MES team enjoyed making pancakes last night. While there were a few disasters and plenty ended up in the bin, the end results were worth it.  Like 63% of the country (yes there is even polling data about pancakes!) most of the MES team favoured the traditional lemon and sugar combination, with Andreas and I being the only one to opt for savoury options, he went for bacon and cheese while I opted for a French galette stuffed with ham, egg and cheese.

 

Pancake day of course marks the traditional start of Lent with people opting to give something up for the forty days until Easter.  While here at MES we might have enjoyed the pancakes, we're apparently not as good at giving things up.  When I surveyed the team only Rob in our Membership Services Team  was giving something up - he's giving up Beer and Lager.  Other responses ranged from "I am actually reverse-lenting. I am re-starting things I gave up" to "giving up chocolate last year just made me cranky so I’m making the decision that is best for everyone by giving up nothing."

Top Tips for Recruitment

Previously we’ve shared with you our top tips for surviving the British weather when out doing recruitment work.  This week Amy in our recruitment team shares her top five tips for a better recruitment campaign.

As we look ahead to 2013 there is a clear aim at the forefront of NHS trusts agendas – to build a membership that is representative of the local community. In advance of submitting reports and plans to Monitor, NHS trusts are reviewing the representation of their membership.

Braving the Winter Weather

After returning from toasty Australia 2 weeks ago (sadly I mean that literally following the recent bush fires in Tasmania) it is quite a shock to the system getting acclimatised to the brutal British weather. Amy and I lead the membership recruitment team  and spend much of the year travelling the length and breadth of the country, encouraging participation and gathering support from the British public for their local NHS Trust. As a result we are now veterans at braving all weather and delivering recruitment campaigns in the harshest of conditions. Here are our top tips when it comes to being prepared for all eventualities:

Resolutions for 2013

Greetings from MES for the new year to clients, friends, colleagues and followers of our blog.  We hope you all had a good break and are set up nicely for 2013.

Short, sweet and to the point this week.  Following on from our end of year ’12 Days ofChristMES’ message I thought I’d do a bit of crowd-sourcing and see what colleagues’ views were on New Year resolutions.

To say there was some resistance to this ancient tradition is putting it mildly.  There was a lot ‘there is no point’ or ‘I don’t agree with setting resolutions’ [a.k.a ‘my willpower is comical and so I will not set myself up for a guaranteed fall’].  The full uncensored version of one of these kind of comments was:

“I usually never make resolutions, because I am a pragmatic engineer who believes that the Gregorian calendar is just another invention that humans developed in order to organize time, and that there is in fact no such thing as a ‘New Year’. If you want to change something in your life, then get a grip and just do it. Don’t wait around for the new year."

Nice.

Anyway, this may of course be true but I have eeked out a top 10 for your delight (as you read on have the TOTP 1980s theme tune running through your mind, or if you need help, click here and have it playing in the background:

10      Travel more

9        To type the word 'constituencies' correctly on a more frequent basis

8        Stop smoking

7        Start using Twitter

6        Train harder

5        Start my voluntary work

4        Worry less

3        Maintain & grow a healthy adult relationship devoid of drama and selfishness

2        Improve my upper body strength [please could you be more specific MES-er? And if I catch you with any improved lower body strength you will be dealt with harshly and swiftly!]

And coming in a No. 1, winning the title for its total lack of commitment and its impressve vagueness....

 

1

“I may do some stuff, I may embark on some ventures, who knows.  I'd kind of like to start looking at property this year, but that's a nice casual idea, not hard-and-fast resolve.”

We’ll provide weekly progress reports throughout 2013 on each of them.

Actually we won't.  If you have any you’d like to share with us why not tweet us @MESSocial ?

Have a good week ahead everyone.

A Very MES Christmas

Coming Soon - the MES Christmas video...

Happy Thanksgiving

Over the past year, the MES team has become more international, with members joining us from New Zealand, Sweden and the United States. In the spirit of honouring and sharing the cultures within our international contingent, today we have celebrated a slightly belated Thanksgiving. While we spent the afternoon devouring pumpkin pie – a traditional Thanksgiving dessert to accompany a dinner of turkey, cranberry sauce, gravy and stuffing – we also called upon our American colleague Mallory to share some thoughts on what this holiday is all about.

There are many origin stories of how the Thanksgiving holiday came into being, and debate as to how realistic some conceptions are of a grand feast where the early settlers and Native Americans came together to eat, share and give thanks for the season’s harvest. Regardless of what may or may not have happened several hundred years ago, the underlying theme of sharing and togetherness persists. Thanksgiving is a time to sit down for a meal with loved ones without the frenzy of gift giving and receiving, and reflect upon the things we already have to be thankful for over the past year.

NHS Membership Engagement Network

Today MES, together with Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, has been hosting the first ever meeting of the NHS Membership Engagement Network in the North West.  The meeting brought together NHS staff from all over the region to share best practice on engaging members, running consultations and governor engagement.

There's been plenty of lively discussion, and lots of great ideas.  If you're on Twitter you can have a look at all the day's events by following the #nhsnw hashtag

MES Strategy Day - Part 2

Last week the MES team had its annual strategy day.  It was a chance to get the team out of the office, to provide a platform for all to have a say about what changes are needed and what our focus should be in the coming year. It was also about spending some time with each other without phones going, emails buzzing (do emails buzz?) or managers hassling!

So my core topics this year were QUALITY and EDUCATION. 

MES Strategy Day in the Cotswolds - Part 1

The MES team spent a few days out of London last week for our annual Strategy Day.  We spent the day planning the next twelve months and doing some team bonding - this year orienteering in the Cotswolds.  We had a great time and we've got some exciting plans for the year ahead.  Come back on Friday to hear more.

FTN Conference Round Up

Last week members of MES and our parent company Electoral Reform Services travelled up to Liverpool to exhibit at the Foundation Trust Network Annual Conference and Exhibition.

The conference itself saw the introduction of Chris Hopson as new chief executive of the FTN and everyone at MES would like to take this opportunity to say a big welcome.
Conferences are usually a great time to spend bit of time away from the office with colleagues, getting a bit of perspective and catching up on the latest news.

One of the big take home messages for us this year was around the remaining provider Trusts and what the future holds for them. We had heard suggestion at the conference that only as few as 35-40 of the remaining aspirant Trusts can expect to be authorised. With the recent anouncement that the CCG deemed Cambridgeshire Community Services as unviable, it appears that crunch time for providers may be here at last.

At MES we have always asked the question 'how does this affect the member, the public and the patient?'. With the onset of more murders and executions (mergers and acquisitions) what happens to the patient's relationship with the outgoing Trust? Communication and involvement in the process can often lead to an even higher level of engagement, and in some intances can even halt the mereger altogther. When there is strong public connection to an organisation, it's a lot harder to simply remove it.

When not debating NHS engagement matters, MES and ERS staff had time to explore a little of Liverpool, grab some great asian food at Tokyou and even cook breakfast together. Getting into the swing of all things Merseyside we even found time to create some alternative Beatles songs - 'while my FT database gently beeps' being a personal favourite!

Ego[stat]istical fact of the day

A few weeks ago we talked about the problem of dodgy data and the need for ‘election-ready data’, well we’re taking another look at the issue today but from a slightly quirkier angle.

Data plays a vital role in any membership organisation, the ability to effectively communicate and engage with your members relies in large part on the quality of your data.  For NHS Foundation Trusts data quality becomes even more important to be able to fulfil the reporting requirements of Monitor.  Without accurate demographic information (age, gender, ethnicity) Trusts can’t provide the data that Monitor require every year.

At MES we currently hold over 1,250,000 individual records for our clients and that figure is continually growing. Because we recognise the importance of data quality we regularly cleanse it making sure to remove any duplicates, ensure the accuracy of postal addresses and remove any deceased members.  Not only does this make reporting much easier, but it also makes mailings much more cost effective as you don’t include members who no longer live at the address you hold.


Through this data cleansing process we've come to understand a few quirks that come with any set of individual records. The most interesting of which is the surprisingly high number of people who marry someone with a similar name or the same first initial.  The number of Pauls married to Paula’s, or Sarah’s married to Steve’s is always a surprise.  At first we just thought it was one of those odd facts of life that didn't really have an explanation.

But last week we found out that the trend we were seeing actually has a psychological reasoning.  A number of studies have identified something called the name-letter effect, where individuals are said to prefer letters that appear in their own name and numbers that appear in their date of birth.  You can even test this yourself – I asked five of the MES team what their favourite number was and three all gave numbers that feature in their Date of Birth.  This name-letter effect is reinforced by a second idea called implicit egotism where people are attracted to people, places and situations that reflect on themselves and this is often cited as the reason that people are attracted to others with similar names. 

So next time you’re going through your membership list have a quick look and see how many of your members have got similar names, you might be pleasantly surprised.

Sgt Peppers Foundation Trust Conference Stand

Yesterday, staffers from MES and ERS travelled up to Liverpool ‘on a magical mystery tour’ for the Foundation Trust Network Annual Conference. It has been good to ‘come together’ to ‘HELP!’ our database clients with latest additions to the system. Following feedback from this year’s user-group we are proud to be launching version 6 of our NHS Membership Database, here at MES we have always had the attitude of ‘we can work it out’.  Its great to have a ‘day in the life’ to catch up with faces old and new. 'We are the egg men.'

Goodbye Rhodri

A note of sadness.  Our great colleague and friend Rhodri leaves us today – after nearly 5 years with MES.  He has been a brilliant colleague, champion and true ambassador for us and I wish him lots of luck.  You will be gone, but not forgotten - goodbyeeeeee!

Foundation Trusts: Their contribution to the engagement debate… and science!

Next week is the annual NHS Foundation Trust Network conference, now in its 5^th year. This year it’s a 2-day event – evidence of the sector’s growth and development, and of course the huge change going on in the NHS right now. As ever, MES and its parent company ERS will be there chatting to clients, putting our feelers out and keeping our ears to the ground.

In advance of that, today we’re launching our publication about the sector’s impact on engagement.  In 2012, it is difficult to get through the day without seeing or hearing a news story, a government initiative being launched or a campaign commencing that talks about the importance to engage with us all.  We should all be engaging – being consulted, taking part, being listened to, no decision made about us without us and so on.

Solving the problem of dodgy data

In 4 weeks, MES launches v6 of its Membership Database system for Foundation Trusts.  Preparing to roll it out to our 100+ clients has inevitably got me thinking about v1, and the start of it all. 

Back in 2006 when we started spec’ing it out and development began, we were approaching the project from a very different perspective.

Our USP for the system was that we were coming at it from an electoral point of view, not a purely technical perspective.  The technicalities and functional capabilities were of course important, and needed to be better than elsewhere.  However, we were not a software house focused just on the jazzy features.