Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire, UK.
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire, UK
BMJ Open. 2021 Nov 25;11(11):e053239. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-053239.
To describe the current work of the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) and assess the service's potential to resolve concerns and contribute to organisational learning.
A qualitative study using semistructured interviews.
Four mental health trusts and four acute trusts in the English National Health Service, a total of eight PALS across different trusts.
Twenty-four participants comprising of PALS staff and clinicians working with PALS teams.
Semistructured interviews were undertaken with participants using video conferencing software. The framework method was used for the analysis of the large qualitative dataset, which is a conventional method of analysis, similar to thematic or qualitative content analysis.
PALS teams fulfil their core responsibilities by acting as point of contact for patients, providing information and resolving a variety of recurrent problems, including PALS staff communication, staff attitudes and waiting times. The remit and responsibilities of each PALS has often broadened over time. Barriers to resolving concerns included a lack of awareness of PALS, limited to no policies informing how staff resolve concerns, an emphasis on complaints and the attitude of clinical staff. Senior management had widely differing views on how the PALS should operate and the management of complaints is a much higher priority. Few PALS teams carried out any analysis of the data or shared data within their organisations.
PALS teams fulfil their core responsibilities by acting as point of contact for patients, providing information and resolving concerns. PALS staff also act as navigators of services, mediators between families and staff and, occasionally, patient advocates in supporting them to raise concerns. PALS has the potential to reduce complaints, increase patient satisfaction and provide rapid organisational feedback. Achieving this potential will require more awareness and support within organisations together with updated national policy guidance.
描述患者咨询和联络服务（PALS）的当前工作，并评估该服务解决问题和促进组织学习的潜力。
使用半结构化访谈的定性研究。
英国国民保健服务系统中的四个心理健康信托和四个急性信托，共有八个不同信托的 PALS。
24 名参与者包括与 PALS 团队合作的 PALS 工作人员和临床医生。
使用视频会议软件对参与者进行半结构化访谈。框架方法用于分析大型定性数据集，这是一种常规分析方法，类似于主题或定性内容分析。
PALS 团队通过充当患者的联系点、提供信息和解决各种常见问题来履行其核心职责，包括 PALS 工作人员沟通、工作人员态度和等待时间等问题。每个 PALS 的职权范围和职责随着时间的推移往往会扩大。解决问题的障碍包括对 PALS 的认识不足、缺乏指导员工解决问题的政策、对投诉的重视以及临床工作人员的态度。高级管理人员对 PALS 应该如何运作以及投诉的管理有截然不同的看法。很少有 PALS 团队对数据进行任何分析或在组织内共享数据。
PALS 团队通过充当患者的联系点、提供信息和解决问题来履行其核心职责。PALS 工作人员还充当服务导航员、家庭和工作人员之间的调解人，偶尔在支持他们提出关切时充当患者的倡导者。PALS 有可能减少投诉、提高患者满意度并提供快速的组织反馈。要实现这一潜力，需要在组织内部提高认识和支持，并更新国家政策指导。
