Personalised Care - involving people in discussions and decisions about their care – improves outcomes and leads to greater satisfaction for patients and professionals. A Personalised Care approach enables more meaningful and effective conversations, delivering better results and helping to reduce demand for services.

A broad range of free Personalised Care training is available to all health and care professionals in Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West (BOB) from a dedicated BOB ICB Personalised Care training team based locally, along with free online courses from the Personalised Care Institute (PCI).  

Training Course List for 2023 - 2024

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Email the team to book onto a course, express an interest or enquire about bespoke, whole team sessions: bobicb.personalisedcaretraining@nhs.net 

Courses - Available Now

The session covers all of the main elements of Personalised Care, including the background and how it can benefit patients and professionals. It explores what matters to both healthcare staff and service users.  The session will help delegates understand what’s new in NHS England’s Personalised Care policy and gain an overview of its six core components.  

Format: 1-hour live, online training 

Current course dates:

  • Friday 15 March 2024, 10:00 - 11:00 
  • Friday 19 April 2024, 10:00 - 11:00
  • Monday 13 May 2024, 10:00 - 11:00

Email to book: bobicb.personalisedcaretraining@nhs.net 

A practical approach to short, opportunistic conversations about healthy lifestyles and behaviour to inspire others to think about future behaviour change.  

MECC CPD accredited practice session for clinicians and practitioners

Format: 3-hour live, online training

Current course dates:  

  • Friday 3 May 2024, 09:30 - 12:30

MECC for community workers, including volunteers 

Format: 2-hour live, online training 

Email to book: bobicb.personalisedcaretraining@nhs.net 

A practical approach to short, opportunistic conversations about healthy lifestyles and behaviour to inspire others to think about future behaviour change. 

This training course will help you develop the confidence and competence to become a MECC trainer, enabling you to run training sessions for others to learn about MECC.  

Receive full trainer’s pack, support tools and certificate of attendance. Network and ongoing support available once trained. 

Format: 4 x 2-hour live, online sessions 

Email to book: bobicb.personalisedcaretraining@nhs.net 

How to increase motivation in people so they feel more inclined to change their behaviour and/ or lifestyle. This session aims to support clinicians to feel more confident guiding patients through a reflective and pro-active health-based conversation.  It covers helping patients think, plan, make their own decisions and set personal goals to improve wellbeing and outcomes. Includes some theory, guidance and practical tools to help you have more effective conversations and to build motivation. 

Format: 3-hour live, online training 

Current course dates

  • Friday 22 March 2024, 09:30 - 12:30
  • Monday 22 April 2024, 09:30 - 12:30
  • Tuesday 28 May 2024, 09:30 - 12:30

Email to book: bobicb.personalisedcaretraining@nhs.net 

Introduction to what shared decision making is, in line with national policy. Healthcare professionals can explore service improvement opportunities to embed this approach into clinical pathways. The session introduces tools to enable the patient to work in partnership with a healthcare professional, as well as advanced communication skills to help people to articulate what matters to them, their priorities and values, and how that affects decisions about their treatment and care options.  

Format: 1 full day session (recommended) or 2 half day sessions. In person recommended. Online also available.  

Email to book: bobicb.personalisedcaretraining@nhs.net 

We can deliver bespoke sessions tailored to the needs of your service. Learn or revisit: 

  • Principles and guidance that underpin care and support planning. 
  • General tools and skills to develop a care and support plan. For helping patients personalise their plans, set goals, and improve self-management of (single or multiple) long-term conditions or relevant healthcare journeys. 
  • Processes including record keeping. 

Format: 2-hour live, online training

Current courses dates:

  • Thursday 2 May 2024, 09:30 - 11:30 

Email to book: bobicb.personalisedcaretraining@nhs.net 

This session will provide an overview for clinicians to improve their understanding of what a personal health budget is, the benefits, and who is eligible. For staff working with patients, carers, and other multi-disciplinary teams to facilitate the transfer or discharge of patients between services, or to home.

Format: 1 hour 15 mins, live, online training

Email to register interest: bobicb.personalisedcaretraining@nhs.net  

Some people who have been kept in hospital under the Mental Health Act can access free help and support after they leave hospital and is often referred to as 'Section 117 aftercare'.

This session provides an opportunity for staff who would like to improve their understanding of what a S117 personal health budget (PHB) is, explore the purpose and fundamentals of S117 aftercare, identify who is eligible, understand what the benefits and pathway can look like for the patient, and recognise how PHB's can support both patient and provider services, e.g.  preventing avoidable re-admission.

Format: 1 hour 15 mins, live, online training

Email to register interest: bobicb.personalisedcaretraining@nhs.net 

A new session to help build your confidence, skills and knowledge to open up discussions with patients about vaccination decisions. 

Find out more on the Let's Talk About Vaccines Training page.

Courses - In development

Understanding new Personalised Care roles and how they can help influence people’s health and wellbeing. The session includes how to access support for patients and service users.

Email to register interest: bobicb.personalisedcaretraining@nhs.net 

Blogs

Picture of Rebecca
Working in partnership with patients – Putting Shared Decision Making into Action

Dr Rebecca Bowers

Long Term Conditions Clinical Lead, GP and Emergency Medicine Specialist

As we settle into 2024 and setting our priorities for new year, I am sure effective care and the safety of patients will continue to be high on everyone’s list but we also want to prioritise our staff and services. The fine art of striking this balance of needs can be significantly aided by patient involvement in healthcare decisions.

Personalised Care – involving people in discussions and decisions about their care – improves outcomes and leads to greater satisfaction for patients and professionals. Our Integrated Care System has been leading the way in this area, offering a full range of free Personalised Care training to all healthcare professionals across Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West.

Shared Decision Maing (SDM) is a core component of a Personalised Care approach. A collaborative process in which healthcare professionals and patients come together as equals, combining two things:

  • The clinical and care expertise we (as healthcare professionals) bring to the conversation
  • The personal expertise of the patient themselves – their lived experience, values and healthcare goals.

Treatment plans are developed using evidence-based medicine and the patient’s informed preferences. As a clinician, I’ve seen the impact of this in practice; If someone is involved in choices about their care, they are more likely to engage, follow advice and make decisions that are right for them[i]. This improves health outcomes and has real potential to reduce unplanned admissions long-term.

Our dedicated training team offers an interactive course in “Putting Shared Decision Making into Action” (Year of Care and Personalised Care Institute Accredited). This training is delivered to teams or groups, supporting you to explore service improvement opportunities and identify key SDM ‘moments’ in your patient pathways.

I understand that time is precious, never felt more so than during the ongoing high pressured winter months. However, if we do invest time now we know it can result in significant time-savings in the future. Not to mention more effective, tailored care and support, and better results in terms of health and wellbeing – for patients and professionals alike.

The BOB Personalised Care Training team offers sessions for other aspects of Personalised Care. Browse the range of opportunities for you and your team and sign up for Putting Shared Decision Making into Action. We want to hear from you on how our team can support you, your team and patients. 

[i] NHS England » Why is shared decision making important?

Case studies

Nina's story - watch on YouTube

During her first pregnancy, Nina experienced a lot of problems relating to both her physical and mental health. Because of how difficult her pregnancy was, she didn’t think she’d want to have any more children.

Now, after her second child, Nina reflects on how personalised care helped her change her mind.

“With my first pregnancy, I had a lot of physical and mental health problems. If it wasn’t for the personalised care I received after the birth of my son, I don’t think I would have gone on to have another baby.   

“I suffered a lot with my mental health the first time around. Because I didn’t have consistency in who I was seeing, it was quite traumatising to keep repeating my concerns. A few weeks before my baby was due, I developed a fear of giving birth. Whilst I had been reassured that my labour wouldn’t last longer than 8 hours until I was offered a c-section, it actually ended up being 48 hours before someone saw this in my notes.   

“After the birth, I started to experience really intrusive thoughts, really worrying thoughts, probably on the border of psychosis, about harming the baby. I couldn’t hold the baby because every time I did, the thoughts would get worse… I was afraid to speak about what I’d been thinking in case they’d take the baby away and even lock me up.   

“It took about 3 or 4 months for me to actually speak about it. In this time, I’d been discharged from mental health services because I pretended I was okay because of fear of what might happen. I ended up raising it in a routine follow up. That was when I started to receive excellent, personalised care. This changed my whole experience.   

“The mental health team reassured me that my symptoms were normal and helped me understand what I was going through. I didn’t want to take medication right away, which they supported. I ended up doing therapy first. Because of this support, I came to feel comfortable with the idea of being pregnant again.   

“Everything was a lot different from when I had my youngest. I had the same midwife the whole time and felt empowered to ask questions… Afterwards, I didn’t suffer with any mental health like I did before. I believe this is all because I had personalised care … I could speak with someone about what choices I had and we worked it out together.  

“My midwife knew my concerns about gestational diabetes which runs in my family. I believe I had this during my first pregnancy as I gained a lot of weight and suffered with pelvic girdle pain. With my second baby, my first test came back negative, but we did another – and it was picked up this time around. I was able to get treated and didn’t experience the issues I’d had before.   

“I ended up just having a few check-up calls to let my team know everything was fine. Even though personalised care requires a lot of time in the short-term, in the long run I believe it actually saves time. This time around, I got to focus on being a mum and taking care of my baby.’’   

Laura's story - watch on YouTube

Previous mental health support left Laura feeling disheartened and like she had to fight for her care. But recently, she has experienced personalised care for the first time.  

With support from a dedicated team who know her story, Laura is now actively involved in decisions and discussions around managing her mental health – a change which she describes as ‘lifesaving’.  
“I have depression and bipolar type 2, which means I go through extreme mood cycles. This ranges from elation to severe depression,” explains Laura.   

‘’At my very lowest I was very serious about not wanting to be here anymore… Because the depression can be so bad, I just want to be asleep to get away from it.   

“When I moved to my current mental health service, I wasn’t in a good place and needed dedicated support to help me get better. For the first time, I received personalised care that was based on my own needs and experiences. I have been supported by my team to make decisions about treatment and have learnt to understand my mental health a lot better.  

“Whilst it’s important listen to healthcare professions, it’s also important to ask questions about your own health. Previously, I saw a different consultant every time, which meant I’d have to say my whole story again. They didn’t seem to read the notes, which was quite distressing, to have to start again every time. They would all suggest different treatments, different medications.  

‘’Recently, I’ve had very good care, which I’d say is very personalised care… They work together as a team and have discussions, so then we all know what is happening.  

‘’Together, my doctor and I weighed up different medication options and we created a personalised crisis plan for when I’m feeling low at home. It contains the phone numbers of friends, family and services who have helped me in the past. There’s also a plan of what to do when I can’t get out of bed – we figured out really specific steps that work for me.  

“When I’d felt low in the past, I contacted a crisis team for help and they ended up discharging me without my knowing. My depression sometimes makes me feel frozen, with even small tasks seeming impossible. That’s how I felt then. But I still had to fight for a follow up on my own care.   

“Now it’s a lot easier. I feel like I have a safety net, but I rarely actually call on professional help. I can now manage my own mental health because I understand it. Without personalised care, I could have got to a point of hurting myself and would have needed much more intensive support. Lots of people would have had to take care of me. My care has been lifesaving and it’s helped me get to the bottom of things a lot quicker, which actually saves more people being involved.”

Bryan's story

Bryan Roland is a First Contact Physiotherapist working at Westongrove Partnership - a partnership of GP practices in Buckinghamshire. After completing BOB Personalised Care training, Bryan shares what the training meant for him, his work, and his patients.  

“The key thing I took from the training was the importance of prioritising meaningful conversations with patients. You can’t push patients through doors, it’s more about supporting them to walk through certain doors on their own. 

“I’m now a lot more aware of what patients are actually saying. Before the training, I could be quite assertive in my conversations. But I now use motivational interviewing tools, leaving space and time for patients to reflect on what they want to achieve and how they want to achieve it.  

“I recently saw someone with arthritis. Normally, the initial conversations for arthritis can be lengthy. But by asking the right questions at the start of the appointment, we were able to get to the bottom of their concerns quite quickly. We then had more time to focus on what was important for the patient in the rest of the session. 

“Using these tools doesn’t make conversations any longer, I think it actually saves time. But it does mean getting more out of the time we have. I am definitely pausing more, giving patients time to think and reflect. Since doing this, my patients seem more reassured and satisfied in their appointments.  

“Communication is perhaps the biggest skill that we have as healthcare professionals. Conversations can be really complex in our work and that’s why I’d encourage everybody to upskill themselves with conversation tools - so we can have a positive impact in all the conversations we have with patients.’’ 

 

BOB ICS Personalised Care Huddle

NEW: Save the date! BOB ICS Personalised Care Huddle. Venue: Virtually via Zoom

Formerly known as “Questions & Sharing event”, the Personalised Care Huddle is a community of practice for health and care staff across the footprint of Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West. View the flyer to discover more!

20/06/2024 – 14:00-15:30 Personalised Care Huddle