Understanding how to best collect and act on patients’ information and communication needs

You are eligible to participate if you have used our outpatient service in the last 12 months and meet one of the following criteria:

• You have requested or used a British Sign Language interpreter at our hospital in the last 12 months.
• You requested or used a spoken language interpreter at our hospital in the last 12 months.
• You have a learning disability
• You have a specific visual need

We’re interested in speaking with people from a broad range of backgrounds, particularly people who struggle with technology or don’t have a smartphone. We may not be able to invite everyone to an interview. We will contact you to let you know if we are able to chat with you or how else you could get involved.

 

Contact for further information

 

We will be contacting patients directly to ask them to be involved, however, if you, a family member or friend is interested in this work and would like more information please email imperial.userinsights@nhs.net

 

 

Further information

 

Who is leading this project?

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust is working with the Helix Centre, part of Imperial College London’s Institute of Global Health Innovation, to undertake this project. The Helix Centre has been funded by the Trust to carry out this project.

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust provides healthcare for over one million people every year across their hospitals in London - Charing Cross, Hammersmith, Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea, St Mary’s and Western Eye hospitals. The Helix Centre is a research lab that is part of Imperial College London and located in St Mary’s Hospital.

What happens if you agree to take part?

If you are selected to take part, we will invite you to take part in an informal conversation (lasting up to 90 minutes) that can be conducted online via a video call or in person.

We can provide an interpreter or lip reader. If you have other accessibility needs or preferences, please let us know and we will accommodate these.

During the conversation we will ask you questions – this could be your experience of booking an interpreter and how the interpreting experience went, And/or the communication and information you receive from the hospital.

After the interviews, the project team will write a report that will inform future improvements to our interpreting service and outpatient care. A high-level summary of the results will be shared with you.

We work closely with public members with lived experience to influence our work, and often get their input on key project activities. We may involve a public member on the project team to analyse anonymised interview notes to compare with our interpretation of the findings. These transcripts will be anonymised to make sure that you cannot be identified.

With your permission, we may use anonymous quotes (so that you are not named and cannot be identified) in our report and publications. We will include a summary in our report on the background of who we have spoken to, for example the ages and ethnicity of people. This ensures that we speak to a broad range of people.

What are the benefits and possible consequences of participating in this project?

Your insights will inform improvements to outpatient care at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, making our services more accessible and inclusive.

You will receive a £25 “One4all” voucher valid at a range of stores for taking part.

During the chat you may be asked about some parts of your care that you would rather not talk about. This may lead to you feeling uncomfortable, emotional and/or upset. To reduce this risk, you will be able to guide the conversation, and we only discuss topics that you feel comfortable to explore. You may choose to end the chat at any time.

Please note: This is an evaluation of the current interpreting service. The people carrying out this project are not medical professionals and are not able to answer any questions you might have. If you have any concerns about the medical care that you have experienced, you should contact the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) and complaints team at Imperial College Healthcare Trust. If you have already made a complaint, please be aware that the team in this session will not be able to address this complaint any further and will direct you to the complaints or PALS team.

How will my privacy and confidentiality be preserved?

Under the law, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust is considered the data controller of any data relating to you that we process for this programme. The Trust is legally required to process your data in compliance with the requirements of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, in addition to its own internal policies.

We will only process your data with your consent. Your participation is entirely voluntary, and you are free to withdraw your consent at any time, without giving any reason, and without any adverse consequences or penalty.

Subject to your consent, we will securely retain the data that we collect from you for a period of 12 months. After that, we will delete the data in a secure manner.

For more information about how the Trust processes your data and what rights you have, please refer to: https://www.imperial.nhs.uk/privacy  If you have questions about your data protection rights, you can contact the Trust Data Protection Officer at: imperial.dpo@nhs.net