The Fundamentals of Care program: enhancing patient experience, clinical service and safety.

Abstract

Background The impetus for the development of the Fundamentals of Care (FoC) program at Epworth Richmond came from: 1) detailed analysis of patient incidents and feedback comments, many of which related to “basic” care issues, and 2) the desire to optimise the patient experience in accordance with Epworth values of respect, excellence, community, compassion, integrity and accountability. The FoC program aims to influence patient experience through the four pillars of: 1) communicating with our patients; 2) involving our patients in their care; 3) Meeting our patients’ personal care needs; and 4) keeping our patients safe. The purpose of this presentation is to describe the process of engaging staff from clinical and non clinical departments in the development of the FoC program. Method The development of the Richmond FoC Program was led by the Epworth Richmond Director of Clinical Services and the FoC Working Party. The detailed planning process began in 2016, and the development, implementation and evaluation occurred throughout 2017 through four key forums addressing: 1) the four pillars of the FoC; 2) accountability, reward and recognition; 3) connected care (including use of existing communication tools and processes such as rounding and AIDET); and 4) empathy. Results and Discussion Early outcomes indicate improvements in patient experience seen in the positive change in the patient ‘compliments to complaints’ ratio and patient satisfaction survey responses. Staff engagement in FoC is evident in feedback and staff experience surveys. Ongoing evaluation of outcomes and sustainability of the FoC program is needed but initial outcomes are positive.

Ethics approval: This was an internal quality improvement project sponsored by the Epworth Richmond executive.