Continuous Service Quality Improvement and Change Management for Children and Young People with Autism and Their Families: A Model for Change

Abstract

A case study approach was used that included data collection from a wide range of sources, e.g., a stakeholder conference, audit, questionnaires, and evaluative feedback from carers, families, staff, and Autism Champions. Integrated pathways for patient care improvement were developed. Families and carers were involved in raising awareness of the needs of children with autism and policy development to meet these needs. Increased involvement from interdisciplinary working strengthened the work of the Recognising Autism Management Programme (RAMP) and improved patient care outcomes. The interventions undertaken by the RAMP resulted in improved patient /carer satisfaction, the reduction of challenging behaviour, complaints, and treatment refusal. The Autism Champions played a significant role in signposting resources and the cascading of education and practice development. All children and young people (0-25 years) on the Autism Spectrum and their families benefit from safe, individualised, high quality care in a supportive environment. Education of staff and families and targeted actions in adapting attitudes and behaviours in communication and care management will result in positive experiences for staff, children and families and financial benefit to the NHS Trust by reducing cancellation of appointments and operating theatre slots. ARTICLE HISTORY

Barriers and Facilitators of Healthcare Access for Autistic Children in the UK: a Systematic Review

“…In total, 24 studies that met the inclusion criteria for the systematic review were identified. The studies discussed different aspects of healthcare access, such as GP access (Unigwe et al, 2017;Lawson, 2009;Christou 2016;Kirby et al, 2005), mental health (Jackson et al, 2019;Crane et al, 2018;Singh et al Singh et al, 2010), dental practice (Thomas et al, 2018;Eades et al, 2019;Klein et al 1999;Barry et al, 2013;Brown et al, 2014), transition (Beresford et al, 2013;Colver et al, 2018aColver et al, , 2018bColver et al, 2018aColver et al, , 2018bMerrick et al, 2015;Merrick et al, 2015;Nesbitt, 2000;Singh et al, 2008Singh et al, , 2010, and hospital services (Brammer, 2015;Kennedy et al, 2016;Pratt et al, 2011).…”

“…These findings reinforce the need for healthcare settings to arrange personalised care plans to ensure the visit goes well. This review found that reasonable adjustments that would benefit autistic children in reducing sensory sensitivities are reduced waiting times (Barry et al, 2013;Kennedy et al, 2016;Lawson, 2009;Thomas et al, 2018), giving a pager that would call in patients at the exact time they are needed (Thomas et al, 2018), or allowing parents to leave a mobile phone number while on site (Lawson, 2009).…”

“…However, several gaps in the literature were identified including that, surprisingly, only a few studies examined the facilitators extensively. Although there is evidence of efforts to create interventions and ways to evaluate their effectiveness (Kennedy et al, 2016;Brammer, 2015;Christou 2016), it is striking how few studies explored these topics explicitly.…”

“…This systematic review has several strengths. Overall, the quality of the 24 included studies was assessed to be high, with most scoring between 80 and 100% on the quality checklists and only two studies (Kennedy et al, 2016;Pratt et al, 2011) scoring 50% or less.. This adds weight to the reliability and validity of the findings to practice, policy, and care.…”

Patient safety and quality care for children with intellectual disability: An action research study

“…Significant work has been done internationally to develop staff training for the disability and healthcare sector (Ailey and Hart, 2010; Cartlidge and Read, 2010; Johnson et al, 2013; Kennedy et al, 2016; Rose and Rose, 2005; Rose et al, 2012; Weise et al, 2017). In Australia, there are locally developed training programs, however, none yet exists for the paediatric population (Johnson et al, 2013).…”