19 September 2024

Supporting women’s health at The Loxford Practice through patient engagement

At Operose Health, we want to improve the health outcomes for each and every one of our patients. One of the ways we do this is through our patient education and engagement programmes. Patient education not only improves patients’ knowledge and understanding of their health and what to watch out for– but helps to build patient’s and communities trust in Doctors, Nurses, tests and treatments.

Building trust is essential to reducing barriers to accessing primary care and improving patient outcomes. Where patients have more information about their healthcare, they are more confident which leads to better uptake of screening, tests and access to care.

The Loxford Practice

The Loxford Practice is a large GP Practice in Redbridge, London. They have a diverse patient population and a large multidisciplinary team who deeply understand the needs of their patients. They know that to ensure that we improve access and outcomes for patients, they have to engage and educate patients in a way that patients can relate to, in a safe and welcoming environment.

Women’s cancer awareness day

To this end, on September 18, The Loxford Practice held a Women’s Cancer Awareness Day that 100 patients attended.

During the event, our GPs and Regional Medical Director, Dr Nadia Saeed, gave patients a presentation on cancer prevention, what screening is available to patients and explained how important attending cancer screening is.

NHS England reports that “embarrassment is a significant factor in the decline of cervical screening attendance, particularly among younger women aged 25-29” ​(NHS England). As part of our aim to help reduce the stigma and even sometimes shame and embarrassment that can be associated with women’s health conditions, our Regional Manager Reena Gonsai, gave a talk on the importance of seeking help as soon as they experience a problem – rather than waiting for their screening test. Reena explained to our patients how GPs and Nurses talk through examinations and tests to provide reassurance to patients and explained confidentiality and our chaperone policy.

We’re very pleased to say that many patients took up the opportunity to have their cervical screening with our nurses during the event and a number of patients booked appointments to have their screening done at a slightly later date.

Working in partnership

As well as having the opportunity to speak with our Doctors and Nurses, working with us at the event were members of the NHS Cardiovascular Disease Health Team, colleagues from St Francis Hospice, North-East London Cancer Awareness Team and NHS North-East London ICB. Providing our health and social care colleagues opportunities to engage with our patients is hugely important to our practice teams. Promoting vital local support services means that our patients can get more help, support and advice – leading to improved outcomes for their health and wellbeing.

Patient feedback

Patients feedback from the event was overwhelmingly positive. Patients commented now how welcoming the environment was – which is essential when discussing personal and intimate conditions and tests.

Two of our patients who attended the event had recently been diagnosed with cancer themselves and wanted to come to the event to help explain the importance of accessing care and attending screening tests.

One of these patients, a nurse herself, had come straight from a nightshift at the hospital to the event. She said, “I am so pleased that the practice is educating women about the importance of regular testing and what to do if they notice any changes in their bodies.”

Improving access, outcomes and patient experience

Providing our patients with an opportunity to learn more about cancer awareness and screening in a relaxed, welcoming and safe environment, using language that is free from medical jargon has a significantly positive impact on the health and wellbeing of our patients. This event is just one example of how the team at The Loxford Practice are supporting their patients and communities and improving access, outcomes and patient experience.

A huge thank you to each and every member of the team who contributed to making this event so successful – the patient feedback speaks for itself.