Mental health nurse Emma Hawk with the new booklet

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust and Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust have produced a new ‘patient passport’ entitled Knowing Me which will travel with vulnerable patients throughout their care and across different health organisations.  The ‘passport’ is filled in by the patient’s carers and will contain important information about the patient, which will make their care more personalised and comfortable.

Mental health nurse Emma Hawk, who works for Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust and who led the project, said: “We wanted clear information about the person, their likes and dislikes for example, ‘Do they like sugar in their tea? Would they prefer a bath or a shower?’ It was important that the form was simple and not like a clinical document. We wanted Knowing Me to be suitable for a range of patients, including those with dementia, learning disability or other communication difficulties.”

Liz Wright, Deputy Chief Nurse, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust said, ‘We are really pleased to have developed this simple but effective tool that nurses and other health care professionals can now use to understand the specific needs of the patient they are caring for, as well as enabling them to provide a consistent approach to care that is familiar to that person and their carers.

Knowing Me was developed after a team of clinicians received funding to attend dementia leaders courses run by the University of Worcester. The team, which comprised general nurses, mental health nurses, district nurses, occupational therapists and physiotherapists, piloted the booklet across inpatient areas and community hospitals at the two trusts. Patients and their families praised the form’s simplicity, accessibility and ability to take a snapshot of someone’s everyday routine.