Patient time is the most important currency in health and social care
What Is The Last 1000 Days?
If you had 1,000 days left to live, how many would you choose to spend in hospital? It’s a compelling question to which almost everyone answers ‘None’. Too often, older people, those with life limiting conditions or with chronic illnesses are treated as if they have all time in the world when, in reality, they are the ones with the least time to waste.
The Last 1000 days, originated in a moment of inspiration by Brian Dolan during a teaching session with older people’s clinicians, has helped to draw attention to where time is wasted, to reinforce the postioning of patients’ time as the most important currency in health and social care, and to create a sense of urgency.
Why The Last 1000 Days?
Despite the hard work of caring staff, patients, particularly older people, too often get ‘stuck’ in hospitals, and the systems and silos in healthcare conspire to make this worse. By focussing on the last 1000 days, our aim is to help draw attention to where time is wasted, what could be done differently and to share some examples of successes.
If you are against the clock, trying to get several things actioned, looking at when various services are open, competing for theatre slots, investigation times or outpatients appointments, there is rarely enough time. On the other hand, if you, or one of yours, is waiting for any of the above it’s very easy to lose precious days.
However much we individually agree with the last 1000 days philosophy, nothing changes unless someone changes it. It’s very easy to think you can’t make a difference to a system, an organisation or a healthcare culture, and true you possibly won’t impact the whole system in one go. The thing is, big changes – cultural shifts – all start somewhere, usually by one person, and then the next, making a stand of a small change to something they have influence over. All it takes is for each of us to be brave enough to make a stand about the things that matter to us.
The Last 1000 Days - One Day Workshop
If you had 1,0000 days left to live, how many would you choose to spend in hospital?
Time is the connecting currency of healthcare, whether it’s about waiting lists, waiting for admission or discharge, waiting for results, waiting for medications/prescriptions, wasting time looking for equipment, being involved in pointless meetings, waiting for people to call back etc.
Using the TODAY framework for change (Dolan & Holt 2017) this workshop will show:
- How and where Time is wasted – including by the thief of quality time that is deconditioning
- How to influence people’s Ownership of wasted time
- Examine the Diagnostics of what good looks like
- Develop an Action plan for improvement
- Explore what You can do to make it better for yourself in order to make it better for others
The End PJ Paralysis Summit
The brainchild of Prof Lynda Holt and co-hosted with Prof Brian Dolan OBE since its launch in July 2017, the annual global online EndPJparalysis summit has attracted many thousands of participants from dozens of countries around the world and hundreds of presenters doing 25-55 minute talks on deconditioning, leadership, creating change and personal growth, valuing patients’ time, and much, much more.
To stay up to date with the latest evidence and best practice around mobility and revisit previous EndPJparalysis Summits where there are hundreds of free to access talks in the library of resources, go to endpjparalysis.org to register.
If you would like to speak at next year’s EndPJparalyis Summit ping us an email at the ‘contact us’ box at the bottom of this page and/or keep an eye out for emails from us about the Summit!
End PJ Paralysis FB Group
Join our 3,500 strong and rising, passionate, active community of clinicians and others to share, learn and celebrate what people are doing to value patients’ time, to enhance their patients and residents experience, and mitigate and reduce the risk of deconditioning.