The award-winning Family’s Voice diary for the relatives of hospital patients who are dying is being progressed further for use in other care settings.
Our Trust has been granted almost £50,000 funding to develop its Family’s Voice diary.
The NHS England and NHS Improvement investment will fund a year-long project to update the diary and tailor it for all areas of care.
The diary was created by Mel McEvoy, nurse consultant in palliative care. It gives loved ones of patients a way of expressing their views about the quality of care.
It helps the team make improvements to care in real-time as well as make long-term changes when needed.
Developing Family’s Voice
Mel has spoken about the diary at an NHS national board event and received praise for it from chief nurse professor Jane Cummings. Mel said: “It was a decade ago when I first developed the diary. Since then I have been delighted with its success.
“Families find the diary to be an effective way of communicating their feelings about their experiences.
“We are excited it will receive an update, build on robust evidence on its use. This will mean patients and carers can benefit from its use in other areas of care in the near future.”
Donna Wakefield, consultant in palliative medicine, said: “This funding is fantastic news. It will allow us to engage with key groups, including patients and carers, using up-to-date evidence and guidelines.
“It will also help us make changes and improvements to make it suitable for use across all care settings.
“An educational package will be developed to support all healthcare workers to feel confident to introduce the Family’s Voice to patients and their families.
“We will then conduct qualitative research to evaluate the new updated diary as evidence. This means its use can be recommended in other areas.
“The aims are to capture the experiences of patients and carers in real-time to respond and ensure the highest quality of care for our patients.”
