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Patient Advice and Liaison Services: Results of an audit survey in England

Evans, David; Powell, Jane; Cross, Tanya

Authors

David Evans David9.Evans@uwe.ac.uk
Professor in Health Services Research

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Jane Powell Jane.Powell@uwe.ac.uk
Professor in Public Health Economics

Tanya Cross



Abstract

Objective: To assess the extent national standards for Patient Advice and Liaison Services (PALS) were achieved across England. Context: PALS are an important element of patient and public involvement strategy in England. Seven national standards for PALS were identified. Previous research has not assessed PALS across all trust types in England. Design: Audit survey as part of a mixed method 'realistic evaluation' in which regularities of context, mechanism and outcome are hypothesized and tested. Setting and participants: PALS based in 570 NHS trusts in England between October and December 2005. Main outcome measures: Self reported achievement against PALS national standards. Results: Three hundred and thirty-six valid responses were received, a response rate of 65%. However because some PALS serve more than one trust, this represents an estimated 76% of trusts. Overall, PALS rated themselves highly against all the standards, though somewhat less highly against standard 2 (seamlessness across health and social care) and standard 6 (acting as a catalyst for culture change). There was a wide range of responses with regard to PALS budget, staffing and activity levels, and statistically significant associations between levels of funding and staffing and higher levels of performance. Conclusions: The overall response rate was good so there can be a high degree of confidence in the reliability of the results. The results indicate the challenging context in which PALS are operating. Although the majority of PALS are single trust PALS, there is a high degree of variation in key mechanism factors such as budget and staffing. © 2008 The Authors.

Citation

Evans, D., Powell, J., & Cross, T. (2008). Patient Advice and Liaison Services: Results of an audit survey in England. Health Expectations, 11(3), 304-316. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1369-7625.2008.00505.x

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Sep 1, 2008
Deposit Date Aug 21, 2013
Journal Health Expectations
Print ISSN 1369-6513
Electronic ISSN 1369-7625
Publisher Wiley Open Access
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 11
Issue 3
Pages 304-316
DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1369-7625.2008.00505.x
Keywords patient advice, patient liaison, survey, England
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1018357
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1369-7625.2008.00505.x