Aquilant Endoscopy supports major UK research projects in the North East
Aquilant and South Tyneside Hospital work together to develop new framework to focus on better understanding of the patient experience during and after an endoscopy
South Tyneside Hospital (STH) is set to play a vital role in a nationwide research programme supported by specialist endoscopy equipment provider, Aquilant Endoscopy.
The team at STH – led by Professor Colin Rees and Dr Simon Panter – is developing a Patient Recorded Experience Measure (PREM) framework to focus on better understanding of the patient experience during and after an endoscopy procedure, and producing methodologies for improving future patient care.
New technological innovation and research need to go hand in hand to ensure that the boundaries of healthcare continue to expand
The research is partially influenced by the 2013 Francis Report on patient safety and provision of services in the NHS which called for a refocus on patient-centric care. For endoscopy, in particular, this means moving from a consultant-led approach towards patient experience to an approach focused on the care recipient. The consultant-led approach, unsurprisingly the most in use by consultants, leads to misalignment between what the patient feels as important in terms of the experience in comparison to what the consultant believes the patient is experiencing.
With imminent changes to NHS endoscopy services, the bowel cancer screening programme is expecting a 60% rollout by March 2015 leading up to fullroll-out by 2016, so there is greater need for training in endoscopy services and also in understanding patients’ perspective of the care experience.
Andrew Dawe, general manager of Aquilant Endoscopy, said: “New technological innovation and research need to go hand in hand to ensure that the boundaries of healthcare continue to expand.
“With increasing pressure placed on endoscopy departments due to the bowel cancer screening programme and the rising age of the population, demand is increasing for both endoscopy procedures and research to improve disease recognition techniques and patient care during and after these procedures. Therefore we support clinicians in their research with the aim of continuously raising the standards of endoscopy in the UK.”
