David Foster, Deputy Director of Nursing at the Department of Health shares his experiences of an expert patient in the second in our series of blogs from the Week of Action on Helping People to Stay Independent, Maximising Well-being and Improving Health Outcomes.
I know an expert patient. Well, I guess that’s what we might call her, but she would disagree: she does not see herself as either an expert or a patient. Mrs MacLennan is an 84 year old widow who has lived alone for 18 months. She’s independent although she has a little help with the cleaning. And, because of her deteriorating sight she can no longer drive but has become adept at using the local buses. She’s also a bit deaf and her knees won’t carry her as far as they once did. Her breathing is her main problem. She has perfectly good lungs, but her small voice box and stiff vocal cords mean that she can’t get as much air into them as she sometimes needs. It’s an odd phenomenon which responded to cutting edge (literally) laser surgery a few years ago. This innovative technique shaved the edges off her vocal cords to give her a better chance of breathing in as much air as she needs. As a consequence she has a quieter and hoarser voice but can breathe easily.
Despite the odds, talking is not a problem, it really isn’t. But getting her voice heard can be. When we suffer coughs and colds and moan relentlessly about them, we tend to recover quickly. Not so for Mrs MacLennan. Her inflamed cords swell to obstruct her airway to such a degree that when she breathes in the sound is a dramatically rasping stridor and, if untreated, could be life threatening. The first time it happened there was a whizz to hospital in an ambulance. The drama quickly subsided as she was rapidly treated with intravenous antibiotics and steroids. Equally rapidly her breathing returned to what’s normal for her. And so, she, her family and her GP learned that next time they needed to react to the signs more quickly by giving steroids and antibiotics and preventing the drama being repeated – that is, give oral medicines and keep her at home and protect her independence. This has worked on a number of occasions, until last time.
Recognising the early signs and the need to prevent her condition deteriorating, Mrs MacLennan presented herself and her stridor to the GP at the surgery expecting the usual regimen of tablets and the instruction to rest at home. Her GP was new and for some reason he did not hear her. He was not confident that Mrs MacLennan’s usual treatment was the best on this occasion and wanted an expert opinion. And so the ambulance was summoned, the whizz to hospital was uneventful and she was seen by the experts. Up went the drip and in went the antibiotics and steroids. The situation resolved and she was discharged home, not as a patient but as an independent woman. None of her treatment was really wrong. No one lacked compassion or competence and she was grateful for the right outcome. But it was not what she wanted or really needed. Her hospital admission could have been avoided and she wanted, and could have had, care at home. She was the expert whose opinion should have been noticed.
Staying independent is part of Compassion in Practice. This focus is not just about prevention, early intervention and avoiding hospital admissions. For me, recognising Mrs MacLennan’s experience, it is just as much about listening to people, hearing what they want and need, treating them respectfully as experts in their own care and helping them protect their independence.
Take care Mrs Mac and good luck next time.
David Foster
Deputy Director of Nursing, Department of Health
1 comment
Comment by Fiona Graham posted on
Quite right..many people need to be heard and acknowledged as experts with a lifetime's knowledge and experience of their own bodies and what they need. Many health professionals consider they practice with compassion but with the firm belief that they are the experts. Compassion in Practice means not just listening but also hearing what their patients need!