In November 2021 Norfolk's three acute hospitals agreed the first joint policy to set the foundation for improved care and more efficient hospital services across Norfolk and Waveney.
The James Paget University Hospital (JPUH), the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King’s Lynn (QEH) introduced a shared consent policy from 1 November 2021 - the first of many policies being developed across the three Trusts which will ensure consistency in patient care and make it easier for clinical staff who move between sites.
Over 80 staff, drawn from different teams in the three Trusts, were involved in developing the policy which aims to reduce serious incidents and complaints.
At the time, Kelly Boyce, Head of Safeguarding at the James Paget said: “This collaborative process has been a learning experience for many of us. Sharing best practice, policy and reaching a collective opinion has been so useful. The outcome of a standardised, well considered, transferable policy will support staff to know they will ‘get it right’ in whichever Trust they work. I am looking forward to using this approach with other policies.”
Patient representatives were also involved in the process to ensure the policy met their needs. Patient representative Richard Drew, said: “As the patient representative and having been involved since the inception of this successful unified Consent Policy I have always been made to feel a full participant in the process.”
Cross-agency, multi-disciplinary working ensured that a wide range of perspectives were considered, and that there were no gaps or blindspots in the resulting knowledge, which can be a risk of working in isolation.
The result is a policy that will hopefully lead to consistency for patients across the county, and clarity for professionals, along with the assurance it was developed by a large team bringing an array of professional and personal experiences to the table.
