News & Events

According to a reports by a number of news sources this week, the Health Secretary has confirmed plans to replace the NHS Direct telephone service with the new 1-1-1 helpline that is currently being piloted in North East England. News of the abolition has sparked a huge row, with Lord Prescott setting up an internet campaign to trigger a debate in Parliament about the move, which many critics have portrayed as a purely cost-cutting measure.

PiF has joined forces with ContinYou to offer a half day workshop on health literacy and health information. The workshop aims to give you a greater understanding of ways in which information and advice can be developed, modified and provided for people with Basic Skills and Health Literacy needs. The workshop is in London on 12 October 2010.

This is an opportunity to hear from Professor Bachman, a world expert in the use of the internet in consultations with patients. The workshop will cover practical ways that the efficiency of care can be improved and will explore how this can be achieved in today's world of busy medical practice. Sessions include those on computer use by patients and it's impact on the provision of healthcare and medicine, the internet, and the empowered patient. The event takes place in London on September 21 2010.

Written complaints about NHS hospital and community health services in England have seen the biggest year-on-year rise since annual data was first published 12 years ago. 10,000 (10%) of the complaints were about communication or information to given patients (written and oral). That's the fourth largest area of complaint, behind clinical treatment, attitude of staff and cancelled appointments.

Patient stories can be a valuable resource in the development of patient centric services. Three useful resources are the Patient Voices web site which facilitates the telling and the hearing of unwritten and unspoken stories of ordinary people, a guide to using patient stories with boards and guide form Wales on the collection and use of patient stories.