Care Opinion

Laptop care

Posted By M@ggie

"Laptop care"

About: Adult Services / Condition Management Programme

(as a service user),

A lot of laptop use during sessions by therapists.

Staff were lovely and really nice to work with but when attending physio, there was an over reliance on asking questions (assuming to inform an assessment) from a laptop. Some guidance about how to carry out stretches to improve movement occurred during each session but that took about 5 minutes to do.

The rest of the time spent filling in online assessments and asking questions about other factors that could contribute to improved mobility. I was surprised about the level and type of questions asked given that I was attending a physio appointment. The questions and range of possible answers also were not personalised or individualised. It felt like having to do a very structured quiz about my health and contributing factors etc but that left me feeling like I was just helping staff to fill in answers to questions that were asked in a very structured way and nothing really to do with my condition. Sometimes the options given didn’t make any sense and were irrelevant.

The exercise therapist was very good although I know because I have this condition, they weren't sure about my mobility and ability.

The occupational therapist was able to give some very useful bits of advice to help improve time management and stress but I was unsure from the beginning what exactly the program was about or what was available to me or how long the program would last. Very little information about the program from the start through to the end.

I did benefit from attending but it would have been helpful to understand how I was progressing or what other types of support I’d need that I wasn’t aware of.

I don’t think there was enough preparation in trying to understand how my condition affected me and in general (i.e an understanding of the condition itself) by any of the staff and so suggestions to help I felt that they were guessing most of the time. That affected my confidence and trust in them.

I did gain some confidence to do things I thought I couldn’t do and I did learn some helpful ways of thinking about things that bothered me.

But overall, an impersonal service and not sure if I’d recommend.

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Responses

Response from Liz Doherty, OT/ Condition Management Programme Co-ordinator, WHSCT 16 months ago
Liz Doherty
OT/ Condition Management Programme Co-ordinator,
WHSCT

Submitted on 14/07/2023 at 12:18
Published on Care Opinion at 12:18

picture of Liz Doherty

Dear M@ggie,

Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback on your experience with the Condition Management Programme, we really value your opinion and the comments that you have made regarding the service.

I am glad to hear that you felt the staff were lovely and nice to work with and that you also stated you benefitted from attending the programme ‘gaining confidence to do things that you thought you couldn’t do’ and ‘learning some helpful ways of thinking about things that bother you’. I hope that these strategies will continue to serve you well in future.

I also understand that you did not consider the explanation provided regarding the nature and duration of the programme sufficient from the outset, which is regrettable. As part of the initial welcome text to CMP we include links to the CMP page on the Trust website, with our information leaflet, detailing what to expect and the duration of the programme etc., if you did not receive this may I offer our apologies. As a further means of improving understanding of the programme from early stages of contact, we will carry out an audit to ensure that the ‘CMP Welcome Leaflet’ is provided to each person along with confirmation of their initial appointment.

You mention also that you thought there were ‘too many assessments’ and ‘online forms’ to complete, which is indeed useful feedback to receive. As our programme is funded by the Department for Communities, we are required to demonstrate employment progression in addition to effecting improvements in overall management of health, which is almost impossible to achieve within one succinct assessment. The same assessments and pre and post outcome forms are under review periodically across the CMP service regionally. I propose to share your feedback at this forum and update you with any changes made as a result.

The CMP Team endeavour to make each participant’s experience on the programme individualised and personal so that they can derive maximum benefit during their time on CMP to meet both their health and employment needs. I will certainly share your feedback with the team and act on suggestions I have outlined to strive to make improvements for future participants to address the areas you were unsatisfied with. I hope that this response will go some way to restoring your confidence and trust that you have been listened to and improvements will be made as a result of your feedback.

Many thanks

Liz Doherty

Occupational Therapist/ CMP Coordinator ( Acting)

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Response from Liz Doherty, OT/ Condition Management Programme Co-ordinator, WHSCT 14 months ago
We have made a change
Liz Doherty
OT/ Condition Management Programme Co-ordinator,
WHSCT

Submitted on 23/09/2023 at 22:01
Published on Care Opinion on 25/09/2023 at 08:30

picture of Liz Doherty

Dear M@ggie,

I wanted to update you on the service improvements we have been working on since receiving your feedback. You had stated that you were unsure what the programme was about, how long it would last and that in your experience there was very little information provided from the start. As a result, we looked across the region at what the other CMP programmes provided from the first point of contact and decided to introduce a welcome letter when a referral is first received. We hosted a Focus Group in August and invited participants who are currently on the CMP both employed and unemployed people, previous participants and some who declined the programme when contacted.

At the Focus group we considered a person’s journey from the start (referral) to the end (discharge).The participants provided very valuable suggestions as to how we could provide more information about the service, what they would benefit from knowing at particular points in their journey and how they would like to receive such information. As a result of their suggestions we have produced a new welcome letter detailing some information about the service and what happens next with a screen shot of our Welcome text so they will recognise it when received and contact details. In addition we have introduced a QR code which takes participants directly to our page on the Western Health & Social Care Trust website with more detail on the programme, the Teams, videos from past participants and local contact details. This also means that anyone with language or hearing difficulties can access the information in a format convenient to them. We have begun sending out this new welcome letter alongside an information leaflet from last week to all new referrals.

In addition to this, and as a direct result of service user feedback, we have also introduced a Welcome Leaflet which a person will receive with confirmation of their assessment appointment. This leaflet provides more practical information regarding attendance, directions, nature of the programme offered, etc. It is hoped that providing this information at an early stage will clarify exactly what is involved, and hopefully prevent others like you from feeling that they were unclear about the process.

These new measures will be trialled for a period and evaluated again by service users, where we will take on board any feedback and make adjustments as necessary. The service user feedback proved invaluable to us and we are so grateful to those that gave of their time to help us to make these improvements.

As a CMP Team we will strive to continue to work with service users to enhance the service going forward, as your input is invaluable.

I would like to thank you most sincerely for taking the time to give your feedback, which has led to these changes which will hopefully improve the experience for all future participants in the Condition Management Programme.

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