Why did you decide to apply for the PIF TICK?
There’s so much dubious health information out there. We wanted to make it clear Anthony Nolan’s patient information can be relied upon.
With that in mind, we were keen to attain the PIF TICK quality mark.
Having the PIF TICK confirms our patient information has been produced in a transparent way with user testing, peer review and evidencing at its core.
How has it improved the information you produce?
It’s helped us to identify all the essential elements of a patient info resource, and then to embed them in a production process that is streamlined and flexible.
This has helped us to produce and maintain our large number of booklets and webpages. It also enables us to adapt our approach as required by patient need.
Why is it important to have a documented process when producing information?
Most people just see the end result – the web section, booklet or leaflet. They have no idea how it was produced. Why would they?
Our production process spells out what’s required at every stage to create a patient info resource. This maintains transparency in our work and enables colleagues to pick up and complete a resource from any stage if required.
It also enables us to identify areas for improvement. We want our production process to be as efficient and painless as possible.
How do you support your staff to produce high quality information?
Anyone who works on any part of the production process – as a writer, researcher, copywriter or designer – understands where their contribution fits into the entire process.
This really helps us to work better as a team and to ultimately get the most out of each resource for the benefit of our patients.
We also have regular production catch ups for our whole Patient Services team. This enables everyone to contribute to create the best patient info resources we can.
How do you decide what information users need?
Our target audience consists of people who have either had or need a stem cell transplant to treat blood cancer or a blood disorder.
We research their information needs in a number of ways. This includes checking where they currently find their information and looking at the online discussions they are having on a topic-by-topic basis.
We also have a panel of volunteer patients and family members who help us to identify information needs.
It’s vital that we identify an information need before we produce any resources to meet that need.
We’re a relatively small team maintaining a large number of info resources. We’re never in a position where we can produce resources that are simply ‘nice to have’. Each of our resources must meet a genuine need.
This also makes it easier for us to demonstrate the impact of each resource as we measure it against key performance indicators linked to that need.
How do you make sure your information is based on reliable evidence?
The writer/researcher of each patient info resource collates a References List as they write their first draft.
We have an agreed criteria for selecting evidence, to ensure every health fact we publish is based upon the strongest evidence sources available at that time.
How do you involve patients in producing information?
We have a volunteer panel of stem cell transplant patients and family members who help us develop every one of our patient information resources.
We’re able to draw upon that panel, or other patient contacts via our associated healthcare teams, to ensure we test early versions of our resources with target readers.
They give us honest feedback. This ensures our completed info resources are clear, accessible and genuinely useful for patients and family members.
How do you get feedback from users?
We gather feedback in a number of ways. Every patient info resource invites feedback via email, we welcome feedback via social media or our associated healthcare teams. We have a live feedback option on every patient info webpage.
Feedback is crucial. It enables us to identify essential changes required immediately, as well as broader points to take into consideration when we produce the next version of that resource.
How do you make sure the information reaches those who need it?
Each of our patient info resources meets a specific patient need, so the format is led by that need.
We produced our fatigue information as an audiobook after patients told us fatigue affected their cognitive abilities to such an extent that it made it difficult for them to read a booklet.
We also research where patients are most likely to encounter information – in a clinic, in online forums, on social media etc.
This helps us to share our patient info resources via the most appropriate channels.
Tom Bishop
Head of Patient Information
Anthony Nolan
July 2021
