Person-centred care: advice for non-executive board members

Person-Centred Visiting

The Scottish Government supports the growing movement towards flexible visiting in NHS Scotland so that people have better access to families and loved ones while they are in hospital.

The Programme For Government 2018-19 contains a commitment to person-centred, flexible visiting across our NHS by 2020.

There is growing recognition of the importance of encouraging and supporting family presence whilst a loved one is in hospital or similar setting. In addition to the ethical and human rights imperative to support this approach, there is now evidence of wider impact on safety and effectiveness in the peer reviewed literature, and from organisations who have developed a family friendly culture which puts visiting under the control of the individual and their family 24/7. Positive impacts include reductions in falls and complaints, as well as improved patient and family experience.

While there is a strong emphasis on removing time restrictions altogether, this does not mean that family presence should be completely unmanaged. The privacy and dignity of people in hospital should be protected and guidelines developed locally with patients and families to support this.

There are already good examples of early adopters of flexible, person-centred visiting across Scotland. In August 2017, NHS Grampian launched its ‘Welcome Ward’ initiative. This person-centred approach to hospital visiting recognises the important role that families, carers and friends can have in a person’s recovery. Across NHS Grampian, family, friends and carers are welcome to visit the ward as much as their family member of friend would like, and to share their knowledge and experience with staff. NHS Lanarkshire has also adopted a person-centred visiting policy across it’s acute hospitals, while the new Dumfries and Galloway Royal infirmary opened in December 2017 with fully flexible visiting. Other NHS Boards are working towards full implementation of a person-centred approach to visiting.

What Matters to You?

Scotland continues to be at the forefront of a growing international movement working to improve health and social care by gaining a better understanding of what really matters to people receiving care or support.

The ’What Matters To You?’ approach supports staff to focus on what’s important to the people they are caring for and supporting. It’s based on the principle that, by talking to people about what’s important to them, listening deeply to the answers and taking action on what we hear, we can provide the care and support that people really need and want. In line with the principles of Realistic Medicine, our ambition is that conversations about what matters become a core part of how health and care services are delivered across Scotland, every day.

Scotland has taken a leading role in the international ‘What Matters To You ? Day since June 2016.

Scotland has co-ordinated and hosted the annual ‘What Matters To You?’ day since June 2016. Now in its fourth year, many of the countries engaging with Scotland have gone on to co-ordinate their own local campaigns, embedding ‘What Matters To You?’ at international level. 

On 6 June 2018, over 600 individuals and teams from across Scotland joined colleagues from around the globe to take part in ‘What Matters To You?’ Day. Four new countries joined the initiative in 2018, bringing the total number of countries engaging with ‘What Matters To You?’ Day to 33.

Members of the ‘What Matters To You?’ working group visited teams in a wide range of settings across Scotland including mental health units, acute wards and community services, to provide support and capture learning. In previous years, the day was targeted at health and social care staff but, since 2018, the focus has been on the empowerment of the people who use the services, allowing them to both initiate and respond to ‘What Matters To You?’ conversations about their care and support.