Choice, communication and relaxation: co-designing patient-centred breast diagnostic services

Abstract

Background: Barriers to accessing breast diagnostic services can delay help-seeking while the clinic environment and processes can increase patient anxiety. Meeting future demands whilst delivering excellent care requires radical service review. We explore patients’ experiences of diagnostic pathways and patients’ and clinical staff’s ideas for patient-centred redesign. Methods: We used a qualitative co-design approach comprising 13 patient focus groups and 13 patient interviews with a total of 100 patients. Discussions were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis was used to answer the question “How can diagnostic services be redesigned to enhance patients’ experiences?â€. Clinical staff developed the themes into a new model of care. Findings: Three themes were found. 'Letting patients choose what works' is about providing options so patients can choose how they access the clinic and get their test results. This included a nurse-led helpline or triage clinic and same day results. 'Being more informed' is about patients wanting more informative and empathetic communication from the clinic about waits, organisation of tests and how to deal with any future symptoms. 'Feeling able to relax' is about how the clinic environment could be redesigned to reduce anxiety and allow access to holistic health services whilst waiting. Discussion: This research provides insight into how to promote behaviour change in accessing the diagnostic service, improving patient health outcomes and reducing patient anxiety, whilst enhancing patient experience. The results were used in a clinical staff workshop to redesign services around the needs of patients.