Working together in co production with patients, service users and their families and carers is key to ensuring they are at the centre of all we do. We at NHS England have been working with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) and Picker Institute Europe over the last two years to look at how NHS organisations in England can develop consistent ways to deliver those aspects of care experience that matter most to people and that are co-designed in partnership with them and those close to them.

The Always Events® programme is being delivered in partnership between NHS England and NHS Improvement, and the approach is fully aligned to the quality improvement approaches NHS Improvement promotes.

Always Events® are those aspects of the patient experience that are so important to patients and family members that health care providers must aim to perform them consistently for every individual, every time. They can only be developed with patients being equal partners in the development of the Always Event. The programme has been very successful, with to date over 75 trusts actively working with us. 

We believe that this work can make a significant contribution to the necessity for 'genuine involvement of patients and communities’ described in Next Steps on the Five Year Forward View published in 2017 and similarly to the Commitment in Leading Change, Adding Value that 'We will work in partnership with individuals, their families, carers and others important to them’.

We have seen the results of this approach in terms of both improved experience of care for those who use our services and also the positive impact on front-line staff who co-design and deliver Always Events.

There is a free programme of support including a face to face launch, coaching calls, individual calls and site visits where relevant.  You can find more including the free toolkit here.

Questions to consider for the chat.

• What is your understanding of Always Events?
• Thinking about patient/service user/family/carer feedback – how do you use feedback to make improvements to the service you provide?
• What does coproduction mean to you and can you share an example
• How do you work with people (including staff) to come up with ideas for change?
• What would be most useful for you to progress working using Always Events with patients /service users/ families/ carers in this way?
• What will you do next as a result of today's tweetchat?
  

Thank you to the guest hosts

@clairem7523 is a physiotherapist currently Experience of Care Professional Lead at NHS England. Claire is responsible for leading the national programme for Always Events, a programme developed by the Picker Institute and Institute of Healthcare Improvement that has co production and co-design as its guiding principles. Claire joined NHS England in August 2017 on a 12 month secondment from Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust where she is Head of Patient Experience. 

The chat will also be supported by Kath Evans NHSE, Lorraine Wolfenden NHSE, Julia Holding NHSI and Neil Churchill, NHSE.