From the archives

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  Can we talk about mistakes?

  May 5, 2012 / Recent posts

  A valuable talk from the great TED resource. We have just begun development on a new sister site, www.doctorsstories.org.uk where we will be working with doctors who want to share their stories and explore the professional, moral and ethical issues issues associated with avoidable harm, raising concerns associated with patient safety and disclosure. We hope that the site will be live from the early summer 2012, subject to sponsorship and funding arrangements.

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  NEW – PATIENTSTORIES Guides for Facilitators

  May 2, 2012 / Comment, Recent posts

  PATIENTSTORIES has just produced a range of Facilitator’s Guides to accompany each of our films.  These have been designed specifically to complement Beth’s Story, Julie’s Story and Peter’s Story and help those using our films to explore key themes.  Each guide suggests formats for facilitated sessions and offers prompter questions to elicit further discussion and debate around the issues that emerge. Our guides are available to purchase in packs of three for each of our patient stories.  You can also [...]

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  Buy DVDs and Facilitator Guides

  May 2, 2012 / Order products

  If you would like to purchase DVD copies of any of our stories, or packs of our Facilitator’s Guides to help you get the most from our stories, use the form below – your payment will be processed via Paypal. If you are interested in buying an organisational licence, follow this link to our organisational licence order form.

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  Order Organisational Subscription Licence

  May 2, 2012 / Order products

  An Organisational Licence entitles your organisation to 3 copies of all PATIENTSTORIES‘ current and in-production stories and DVDs which include Beth’s Story, Beth’s Story – Comment & Analysis, Julie’s Story, Peter’s Story, Paul’s Story (available May 2012) and Alexandra’s Story (available late Spring 2012), html code for all films to embed in your intranet if required, and Facilitators Guides for each story to make sure your organisation gets maximum learning from the films. Please complete this order form if you [...]

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  Department of Health consultation on contractual duty of candour…

  December 5, 2011 / Comment, Recent posts

  On the 10th October the Department of Health (DH) launched a consultation on the contractual duty of candour. In short the DH is proposing, as part of the new Health and Social Care Bill, that a contractual duty of candour will be placed upon the provider. The consultation asks for views on how to design a contractual requirement for organisations to be open with those affected when things go wrong. It also asks how best to support patients and clinicians [...]

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  Beth’s Story – Comment and Analysis…

  November 19, 2011 / Comment, Films, Recent posts

  We have now launched three new short films which explore the lessons that can be learnt from the tragic and powerful story of Bethany Bowen (as told by Clare Bowen in our film “Beth’s Story“) The new films explore a range of issues illustrated by the film with analysis from expert commentators including journalist and broadcaster Dr Phil Hammond, former NHS Chief Executive Stephen Ramsden OBE; medico-legal specialist Dr Stephanie Bown of the Medical Protection Society and Clare Bowen, Beth’s [...]

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  Why sorry doesn’t have to be the hardest word…

  November 1, 2011 / Comment, Recent posts

  In this article, recently published in the British Medical Journal,  Jane Feinmann,  Medical Journalist & PATIENTSTORIES regular contributor explores why “being open”, despite significant effort and attention is proving such a struggle for the NHS. The Command paper published on Monday 20th June suggests that a statutory “duty of candour” will now form part of the Health & Social Care Bill although the announcement that this will through “contractual mechanisms” does not fill me with confidence that the issue will [...]

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  Why PATIENTSTORIES?

  October 21, 2011 / Comment, Recent posts

  Murray Anderson-Wallace  Whilst most practitioners, managers and clinicians might accept that the experience of the people that they care for and treat is an important aspect of patient safety improvement, the practices associated with this work are still relatively new and underdeveloped. Engaging patients, relatives and carers in ways that use their knowledge and experience to directly influence and build the safety culture is a key frontier for those who are interested more than incremental improvements. This is without doubt [...]

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  Is an obsession with natural childbirth putting mothers and babies in danger?

  October 6, 2011 / Comment

  By Jane Feinmann There is no doubt that for most women in this country, childbirth remains a safe and happy experience. But it is also true that for too many, it is a highly risky and frankly horrific experience. Stories abound of mothers-to-be left alone in labour, sometimes refused pain relief or surgical intervention, putting their babies’ health or even lives in danger. The statistics make grisly reading: an average of 11 babies are stillborn every day in NHS hospitals, [...]

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  Private Eye launches “Whistleblowing” website …

  August 19, 2011 / Comment, Recent posts

  We recently supported the launch of the new Private Eye sponsored website www.medicalharm.org The website features many accounts of those who have tried to raise concerns about standards of care and patient safety but have struggled to be heard. PATIENTSTORIES contributed a written account of Beth’s Story which illustrates the role that assertive patients and families can play as “whistleblowers” too. This is clearly a controversial subject and the new website takes a very robust approach to the issues they [...]

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  Dr Phil Hammond endorses PATIENTSTORIES

  July 12, 2011 / Comment, Recent posts

  “Stories are metaphors for life, they are how we change the world…” Dr Phil Hammond, GP, Comedian and Broadcaster          

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  Care to be a Nurse?

  June 24, 2011 / Comment, Recent posts

  As part of the “Four Thought” series  (a collaborative project between the RSA and BBC Radio 4),  Columnist for the Independent newspaper, Christina Patterson discusses her own experiences of nursing care.  She asks why we keep making excuses for bad nursing when good care is so important, and maintains that whatever the pressures on them nurses always have a choice about how they behave. Four Thought combines big ideas and evocative storytelling in a series of personal viewpoints – speakers [...]

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  Peter’s Story

  June 22, 2011 / Comment, Films, Recent posts

  Peter’s story documents the experiences of the Jones family in the days immediately preceding and the hours following the death in hospital of a family member. It also considers the perspective and private reflections of the nurse caring for them during this time and the struggles that she experienced in providing a quality service. In particular this film aims to emphasise the multiple viewpoints in this situation as well as highlighting the risks associated with miscommunication and misunderstanding that can [...]

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  The Tales of Two Treatments…

  June 22, 2011 / Comment, Recent posts

  by Phil Hadridge The same hospital One of the very best in the NHS They say Within 3 days Two people Two treatments One involved stitching a gashed chin A running accident The other a rapid assessment with an invasive and non-invasive test What was striking? The quality of the fabric – clean, tidy The sense of competence – it felt effective and safe The speed  – from arrival to outcome within 1 hour for the minor injury and 2 [...]

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  Clare Bowen

  May 21, 2011 / People

  Clare Bowen is a trainee accountant and mother of Bethany, Will and James, and widow of Richard. In 2006 Clare and Richard lost their beloved daughter Beth during a routine laproscopic spleenectomy.  Richard died suddenly shortly after the Coroners Inquest into Beth’s death. Since then Clare has spoken nationally about her family’s experience and continues to campaign for greater openness and transparency around error in healthcare and for a greater understanding of human factors in healthcare. Clare is a standing [...]

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