HULL STUDENTS ENTER
THE DEN
As part of the first module of the BSc Acute
Mental Health Care run at the University of Hull, students were
asked to pitch an idea for improving patient and carer experience
to a panel of Dragons. The cohort comprises 16 acute mental health
practitioners from across the region. (Humber, Navigo, York, RDASH
SWYT and SHSC They work predominantly in crisis; liaison and
inpatient services. The focus of the module is the context and
culture of acute care, covering historical perspectives, current
policy drivers and guidance, contemporary practice issues and
strategic developments.
The students were asked to develop a proposal
for an initiative or product that they could deliver in their
practice areas aimed at improving patient or carer experience. They
worked in pairs and were asked to provide evidence of market
research in relation to the value or demand for their initiative or
product, supported by any other evidence from research literature
or good practice examples.
The ‘Dragon’s den’ took place on the
8th of December with the panel of Dragon’s
including Steven Michael, Chief Executive, South West
Yorkshire Partnership NHS foundation Trust, Dave Snowdon,
Chief Executive, Humber NHS Foundation Trust and Professor Steven
Ersser, Dean , Faculty of health and Social Care, University of
Hull.
The student had five minutes to pitch their
ideas followed by 10 minutes of questions from the Dragons. The
ideas pitched to the dragons included:
- - development of a carer wellbeing
website
- the development of a photo
bank for service users photography which could be transformed into
high durability art work for clinical areas
- DVDs with personalised
relaxation or therapeutic support strategies;
· MP3 players
for use by inpatients
· development of a
service user support network;
-
· development of
teleconferencing facilities for people
-
living
in remote rural areas being supported by
home
-
treatment teams;
- Welcome packs containing
toiletries and other essentials for newly admitted inpatients.
- Night vision torches so that
patients are not disturbed during routine checks during the
night
The Dragons felt that all of the ideas were
worthy of support and investment and commented favorably on the
quality and creativity of the students. Both financial investment
and organisational and regional support were identified for all of
the ideas and the students have been asked to provide feedback and
evaluation about how the ideas have been developed in practice.
Although anxiety provoking the event was an
excellent opportunity for practitioners to showcase their passion,
creativity and commitment to improve patient and carer experience
and all the students found the process affirming and enjoyable in
the end!
It has been suggested that the approach be
used on other programmes within the Faculty of Health and Social
care and Tim Welbourn and Tracy Flanagan (programme leads) have
been asked to present the concept during the staff development week
at the university.