West Suffolk CCG is committed to promoting patient-centred care, increasing patient choice, autonomy and involvement in clinical decision making and making ‘no decision about me, without me’ a reality. The CCG has introduced Shared Decision Making across the health economy in west Suffolk to support the patients who want to be involved in clinical decision making about their care.
Shared Decision Making is a process by which patients are supported and encouraged to participate in decisions about their treatment when there is more than one reasonable option available. The clinician provides the expertise on the condition, treatment options, benefits and risks – patients are helped to work through any questions they may have, explore the options available and take a treatment route which best suits their needs and preferences.
Key features of Shared Decision Making are that objective information is made available to the patient, and support is provided to help the patient reach their decision with their clinician. We believe that this has lead to new relationships between patients, carers and clinicians. Shared Decision Making is one part of our programme to engage with patients and the public.
In west Suffolk we have regular forums, engaging with patients and the hospital in order to continue to develop this approach. Clinicians from West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust and patients have recently developed a booklet to aid understanding of female urinary incontinence and the treatment choices available. Other areas of focus include Urology, where men have been given information and support for treatment choices if they have localised prostate cancer or benign prostatic hyperplasia.
For further information on Shared Decision Making, please click here.
For further information on Patient and Public Engagement please click here.
Decision Aids
A range of aids have been developed in order to enable patients to make shared decisions about their care, including option grids, brief decision aids and web-based information. They are designed to help patients fully understand the treatment options available, consider the pros and cons and to encourage communication between patients and their healthcare professionals. Patient Decision Aids can feature evidence-based information, images, diagrams and animations. There are aids for some of the most common conditions and more are in currently under development.
For more information on Option Grids please click here.
For more information on Brief Decision Aids (BDAs) please click here.
For more information on Patient Decision Aids (PDAs) please click here.
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