Patient involvement in hernia surgery.
There is a strongly held view that patient participation and collaboration within health and social care is fundamentally critical for the continuous and effective development of services. The Kennedy report from Bristol Royal Infirmary, July 2021 recommends that the perspectives of patients and the public must always be taken into account, in the United Kingdom it is now a statutory duty for all NHS Trusts, Primary Care Trusts and Strategic Health Authorities to involve and consult patients and the public in the development of proposals for change. It is becoming more and more apparent that this is vital within hernia surgery as recent comments on EHS posts include that patients are not heard and those struggling with chronic pain are ignored. Patients who have not yet had surgery can feel isolated, their concerns not heard or understood. We see this every day within our dedicated Facebook group.
The recent UK Cumberledge report, whilst identifying valid concerns about the use of vaginal mesh has been used by anti-mesh groups to strengthen their claims that all mesh related surgeries should be stopped. These groups are active across the EU and do cause concern for patients who experience hernia. The EHS has taken steps to improve relationships with patients by creating the Patient Advisory Committee and as part of continuous development would like to encourage all Affiliated and Associated Societies to develop their own Patient Advisory Committee and to fully incorporate and involve them within their society but do understand that this can take time to develop fully as no patient representative wants to be a token so to start and to show you the benefits of patient involvement we would like to take this opportunity to invite you to nominate 1 (or more) patient from your society to be a part of the EHS patient advisory committee to allow us to better understand how hernia treatment is delivered across the EU and allow us to help support your patients.
There are many potential benefits of patient involvement in hernia societies, which can include: a greater understanding of the needs of patients, leading to better outcomes of care and improvements in hernia surgery, policy and planning decisions that are more patient-focused, focus on research that is relevant to patients, identifying areas of education that may not necessarily be surgical skills and patient involvement in the creation of clinical guidelines. McMasters University states that “patients should be seen as experts in the creation of these guidelines because they have actual lived experience”. If there is improved communication between the societies and patients, they feel more confident that their voices are heard and understood, which creates a higher level of trust and confidence. Greater ownership of “your how hernia surgery” is delivered and a stronger understanding of how and where it needs to change and develop.
As in all new relationships there may be difficulties in including patients to start. Patients may be anxious, they may worry that their opinions won’t matter, they may worry about not understanding what surgeons are talking about and feel unable to ask for fear of looking silly, and they may feel as though they are only there as a token. Surgeons may feel unable to speak freely in case the patient criticizes them, and they may feel undermined by the patient, but these issues can all be resolved if you work together and respect the roles each person plays within society. It may be that if you have not involved patients previously, your constitution may need amending to allow for this. Everything can be overcome if you work together as a team, and soon, the benefits of patient participation within the society will be seen by all.
Contact Jackie Bullock, patients@europeanherniasociety.eu.
