Patients and health workers urged to call out unnecessary or frustrating NHS rules

Twm Owen, local democracy reporter

Patients and health workers are being asked to call out “silly rules” they believe could be scrapped to improve care in Wales.

Patient watchdog Llais is working with anti-poverty think tank The Bevan Foundation on the campaign that encourages patients, as well as staff working in health and care, to identify what they believe to be unnecessary or frustrating rules.

The ‘Silly Rules Campaign’ asks “if you could break one rule for better care, what would it be?” and is based on the ‘Breaking the Rules for Better Care’ campaign launched by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in the United States in 2016.

Changes

Lisa Charles, of Llais Gwent, told members of the area’s Aneurin Bevan University Health Board: “We want to have staff and the public feed into the Silly Rules campaign and will collate the data and any trends and look across the representations for changes and conversations with the Welsh Government moving forward.”

A report prepared by Llais, for the health board, stated the work in the United States helped health providers “identify and address processes that frustrate those who access care and professionals” with the aim of improving outcomes, saving costs, and reducing waste.

Llais intends collating the results in January, after the survey has closed, and will make recommendations based on trends and themes.,

Feedback

It intends working with health boards, that are responsible for NHS services, to identify where feedback has made a difference and giving explanations if any rules cannot be changed.

The report stated: “This is an opportunity to pick up on rules, processes, systems and ways of working that aren’t serving staff or people who access care and support, identifying where small changes can be made to make a positive impact and streamline services.”