Difficult conversations? Engaging patients in reducing waste in health care
Citation
Virginia Minogue Bill Wells Ashley Brooks , (2016),"Difficult conversations? Engaging patients in reducing waste in health care", International Journal of Health Governance, Vol. 21 Iss 2 pp. 51 - 58
Abstract
Purpose – Reducing waste in health care can result in savings that could be used to meet the projected
shortfall in NHS funding or to meet the care needs of vulnerable groups. Patients and their families can
contribute to the identification and reduction of waste. To do so their understanding of the costs of
health care and treatment needs to be increased. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach – The approach formed part of the Close Partnering work stream
of the NHS Future Focused Finance (FFF) programme. Included in this was a review of the literature
relating to waste reduction, patient engagement and reference to experts in the field of public and
patient engagement. Engagement of the patient voice in the NHS FFF programme to provide the
patient perspective and engage in discussions with patients. Discussions with experts in patient and
public involvement and clinicians were also undertaken.
Findings – The public and patients have little awareness of NHS finances and generally perceive
efforts to reduce costs and achieve efficiencies as impacting on the quality of care. Engaging the
public and patients in discussions about the costs of health care is challenging and existing
methodologies for patient and public engagement may not be appropriate for what could be termed
difficult conversations.
Social implications – Increasing patient awareness of the costs of health care and treatment may
result in patients and the public demanding greater involvement in decisions about health care
expenditure and use of resources.
Originality/value – Difficult conversations with patients and the public about the costs of health and
their role in reducing waste are rarely invited. This paper brings to the fore the issues and challenges
that such discussions engender.
Description
Published online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJHG-01-2016-0002
Eligible users can access the full text via NHS OpenAthens at [https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/IJHG-01-2016-0002] (login required).
Collections
- Conducting Research [49]