Analysing Aspects of Service Recovery Based on the Service User Group for Specialist Palliative Care - Coursework Example

Analysing aspects of service recovery based on the service user group for specialist palliative care, with a rationale for action supported by evidence Table of Contents Introduction 3 Description Regarding the Underpinned Theoretical Aspects of Measuring Quality of Healthcare Services 3 Issues Regarding Provision of Quality Health Care 4 Intergenerational Preference in terms of Effective Provision of Quality Palliative Care 5 Methods and Models used for Measuring the Quality of Palliative Treatment 6 Conclusion 9 References 11 Bibliography 14 Introduction Quality has always remained a crucial issue in healthcare practices as it deeply affects the interests of the society and motivates stronger emphasis to the equitable performances of healthcare professionals. The same concern has also presented a serious challenge to the healthcare professionals, wherein they need to mitigate obstructions and issues, at almost every level of care delivery, to ensure that the interests of the service user group and their responsibility as a care giver is justified to the maximum extent. Based on this notion and underpinning, the main objective of this discussion is to analyse each and every aspect related to the measurement of service quality in hospitality industries from a critical point of view. The discussion will also be focussing on understanding the concept of intergenerational service preference in healthcare industry, with due significance to the specialist palliative care settings. A detailed explanation about the various types of issues regarding delivery of quality healthcare service will also be provided in this discussion along with an overview of the multiple steps included in carrying out the palliative treatment effectively within the UK healthcare industries. Description Regarding the Underpinned Theoretical Aspects of Measuring Quality of Healthcare Services The necessity of measuring the quality of health care services holds a commendable ground in the present medical scenario. Collecting effective report about the health service quality gradually helps in terms of providing sound medical care to the patients. The concept holds a vital ground in the areas of palliative care (Teleki & et. al., 2003). Hence, it becomes an utmost necessity that the quality of health care facility, which is being provided during the end of life, should be of specific standards. Moreover, the baseline quality standards are also required to be setup, depending on the type of palliative treatment being provided to the patient (Royal College of Nursing, n.d.). Apart from all these, the treatment of palliative care is itself a complex process and follows a multidisciplinary approach (Department of Health, 2013). Adding to that, this treatment requires effective decision making based on the opinions and data inputs from various sources for instance ‘physicians’, ‘pharmacists’, ‘nurses’, ‘chaplains’, ‘social workers’, ‘psychologists’ and other ‘allied health professional’. Above all, the utmost necessity of palliative treatment is to bring about improvisation to the life standards of patients, providing relief to their family members during the final days of their life (Royal College of Nursing, n.d.). Issues Regarding Provision of Quality Health Care By taking into consideration the current competitive intensity, it can be stated that the healthcare services have been experiencing multiple issues in terms of quality in the recent years. Some of the major factors contributing to such issues are as follows. Financial Crisis: Due to the current recovery from the economic turmoil, multiple nations are still undergoing a recovery stage both in terms of monetary and production, which is also evident in the case of the UK. As a result, it has been seemingly difficult for nations to contribute towards the growth and development of the healthcare sectors. Additionally, setting up proper infrastructure for provision of effective palliative treatment requires huge investments, which multiple health centres cannot afford and thus fail in terms of maintaining quality in the UK (Horrssen, 2010). Absence of Appropriate Standardising Tools: This is one of the crucial issues, which has contributed towards the inappropriate delivery of quality healthcare services. Till date, multiple quality measurement tools have been framed but none has been proved effective in terms of precision, and thus, the palliative service users need to depend on human care-givers’ efficiency. Apart from these, the systems also suffer significant amount of setbacks in terms of lack of experienced individuals who could carry out the procedure in an effective manner leading to further decline in the overall care-giving process in the UK healthcare sector (Health Foundation, 2014). Emotional Barriers: To a certain extent, emotional barriers also play a significant role in increasing risks for ineffective delivery of quality palliative treatment to the suffering victims. These barriers are generally witnessed from the patient’s family member, using specialist palliative care treatment facilities, who often feel uncomfortable when watching their loved ones withstanding pain and discomfort (Krouse & et. al., n.d.). Intergenerational Preference in terms of Effective Provision of Quality Palliative Care The intergenerational preference of delivering care through specialist palliative treatment can be described as the age gap persisting between the suffering old age patients and the young age medical individuals who will be treating them. The treating procedure should be such that it follows all the medical objectives. These medical representatives must make sure that the sufferings of the patients are brought down to the minimum possible level and that every elderly patient is treated with respect. Adding to that, a younger medical representative should look forward in terms of providing physical comfort to the dying patient by keeping in mind of multiple discomforting factors. Some of these factors might include ‘body pain’, ‘respiratory problem’, ‘skin irritation’, ‘digestion issues’, ‘body temperature fluctuation’, ‘fatigue’ and multiple more. All these sorts of health issues generally arise due to the long-term confinement of the patients to the hospital beds. Thus, it becomes the prime responsibility of the young generation medical representatives to pay equal emphasis on maintaining hygiene (Eapc Dementia White Paper, 2013; National Institute of Aging, n.d.). Methods and Models used for Measuring the Quality of Palliative Treatment Notably, multiple standards and strategies have been established which are effectively used are in order to measure health care quality services (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 2014; World Health Organization, n.d.). Some of these standards are briefed hereunder and explained accordingly. Plan-Do-Study-Act Model This model of evaluating the quality of health care treatment has been in practise since long and has proved itself as an effective tool to ensure quality assured healthcare services. This model has also been much effective in making evaluations of the palliative treatment services provided to the service users. The model mainly comprises of four crucial steps. The first step emphasises the formulation of a strategic plan. In this step, the in charge medical team is intended to come up with a technique of evaluating the quality of the palliative treatment (NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, n.d.). The associated work process of this step includes setting up of an aim, selection of group members, and determination of the measuring criteria. The second step is all about looking forward to practising the framed plan on real time basis. Correspondingly, the third step focuses on the accurate evaluation of the implemented plan. The data obtained from this step significantly helps in understanding the multiple loopholes within the framed plan leading to the final step, which concentrates on making necessary amendments within the faulty plan with the intention of increasing its precision and subsequently, assuring quality services (NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, n.d.). Six Sigma Model The Six Sigma Model has been in practise in multiple industries for measuring the quality of production and service outcomes. However, with the intensification of the competition in healthcare industries, this model has found its successful existence in measuring the quality of health care services being provided to the patients. If seen from a medical perspective, the Six-Sigma model mostly considers three crucial factors, for measuring the quality of health care services (Bandyopadhyay & Coppens, 2005). The first factor includes taking into consideration of the patient’s interests. This factor is primarily concentrated on discussing the types and elements of palliative treatment, which needs to be provided to the patients. The second factor takes into consideration the patient’s opinion and preference of the service before finalizing any decision. The third factor emphasises implementing the six-sigma model in terms of measuring and improvising the quality of the provided healthcare service to the patients (Bandyopadhyay & Coppens, 2005). Based on the above-mentioned three factors, the entire process of six-sigma is carried out following six major steps. In the first step, the type of palliative care required for the patients depending on their illness is decided (curable or incurable). In cases of curable illness, the medical team or the concerned individual provides the patients with particular sort of prescribed medicines and keeps the patients under constant monitoring in terms of recording recovery rates. However, in case of incurable illness, the concerned medical personal generally provides the patients with sedative with the prime intention of reducing the patient’s pain and suffering (Bandyopadhyay & Coppens, 2005; American Society for Quality, n.d.). Correspondingly, in the second step, a baseline is developed for measuring the quality of the palliative or end of life care, which are to be provided to the patients. This step follows certain standards and ratings, depending on which the treatment process gets evaluated. This step is followed by the third step in which, both the patients recovery state and the treatment step gets simultaneously monitored, which further helps accurate evaluation of the service potentials when determining the service quality. The fourth step emphasises identifying the various faults, which might lead to loopholes within the structured treatment plan and result in the complete failure of the palliative care process. In the fifth step, several corrective decisions are made to mitigate the faults detected in the fourth step. This step also gets acquainted with reimplementation of the entire treatment process, with the corrective procedures. Ultimately, in the final step, measures are carried out, focusing on all the above-mentioned procedures in a cyclical manner (Bandyopadhyay & Coppens, 2005; Department of Community and Family Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, 2005). Lean The lean model of measuring the quality of health care services has attained high significance with the intensity of competition in the contemporary medical field. This concept is all about an effective set of tools and principles, which are mostly used in providing the patients with high rate of value service (Glasgow, 2011; West, 2008). This concept also takes into consideration one crucial point regarding the optimal utilization of resources when practicing effective services. It is worth mentioning in this context that the situation during carrying out of the palliative treatment at the final stage of the patients’ life becomes quite delicate. Therefore, it is considered as necessity foremost function that the treatment quality and the value provision get maintained; if otherwise, such issues might give rise to multiple consequences causing mental and emotional stress to the healthcare professionals, patients as well as their family members (Glasgow, 2011). Moreover, this model helps in identifying all the unnecessary and wasteful factors, which if eliminated, might subsequently add up to the output and efficiency of the palliative treatment, such as reducing the waiting time of patients, carrying out appropriate health problem evaluation, maintaining of effective communication and multiple more (West, 2008). Root-Cause Analysis The Root–Cause (RCA) analysis is an extremely delicate analysis framework applied when measuring the quality of palliative health care services. Since palliative health care service is also a highly delicate kind of treatment, it is necessary that any issue, which arises within such treatment, should be identified from the extreme root. In this model of measuring quality health care services, individuals from multiple dimensions of medical field get together into brainstorming activities to conduct the evaluation procedure (Weiss, 2008; World Health Organization, 2012). The outcomes of such procedures get recorded accordingly and are followed with the prime intention of preventing future consequences. Adding to that, this process gets carried out through the conduction of multiple participative events, where the experts actively participate in discussing strategies and carrying out question answer rounds in order to bring about improvisation within the palliative care treatment segment (Weiss, 2008; World Health Organization, 2012). Conclusion Undoubtedly, maintaining appreciable quality in terms of heath related services has been a rising concern in multiple developed as well as underdeveloped nations. Multiple nations spend around trillions of dollars every year in bringing about development within the healthcare facilities. Even after expensing so much, the current medical trend seems to have multiple loopholes, which needs to be improvised gradually. Adding to that, the problems related to healthcare are majorly observed during the later stages of life, when patients are categorised as the service user groups of specialist palliative care. In such scenario, elderly patients, during the final stage of their life require specialist treatment based on their needs. Correspondingly, multiple health-service quality measurement tools have been established with the prime intention of keeping a check on the quality of healthcare, being provided to the patients. References Bandyopadhyay, J. K. & Coppens, K., 2005. Three Approaches to Improve Patient Satisfaction. The Use of Six Sigma in Healthcare, pp. v1-v12. Department of Community and Family Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, 2005. Six Sigma. Patient Safety- Quality Improvement. [Online] Available at: http://patientsafetyed.duhs.duke.edu/module_a/methods/six_sigma.html [Accessed May 3, 2014]. Department of Health, 2013. Why is "Quality" Health Care Important? Hospital Performance Report Home. [Online] Available at: https://web.doh.state.nj.us/apps2/hpr/importance.shtml [Accessed May 3, 2014]. Eapc Dementia White Paper, 2013. Recommendations on Palliative Care and Treatment of Older People with Alzheimer’s disease And Other Progressive Dementias. European Association of Palliative Care, pp. 1-32. Glasgow, J., 2011. Introduction to Lean and Six Sigma Approaches to Quality Improvement. National Quality Measure Cleanhouse. [Online] Available at: http://www.qualitymeasures.ahrq.gov/expert/expert-commentary.aspx?id=32943 [Accessed May 3, 2014]. Horrssen, R. V., 2010. 10 Key Strategic Financial Planning Issues. Thought Leadership. . [Online] Available at: http://www.thecamdengroup.com/thought-leadership/top-ten/10-key-strategic-financial-planning-issues/ [Accessed May 3, 2014]. Health Foundation, 2014. NHS Education for Scotland: Addressing the Emotional Barriers Hindering Patient Safety Investigations in Primary Care. Part of Shine 2012. 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This guide was prepared as part of the Victorian Quality Council’s project on improving communication among healthcare professionals, pp. 1-12. Read More