Spoken communication and patient safety: a new direction for healthcare communication policy, research, education and practice?

This report sets out the findings of a National Health Service Improvement (NHSI) working group on care communication which included clinicians, patients, patient representatives, NHSI staff and academics from different disciplines. The group’s activities included running four national focus groups and discussion days, in addition to conducting national and international literature searches on healthcare communication and communication improvement. The group’s conclusions are that six domains of care communication warrant attention and improvement: the care environment, information exchange, attitude and listening, aligning and responding, team communication, and communicating with unique groups. Together, these domains expand the definition of healthcare communication from communication as information transaction to communication as complex social and local dynamic. The report outlines the consequences of this expanded definition for healthcare communication improvement and improvement research

The Centenary Community Engagement Fund Working Paper: Partnership working, current community challenges and interdisciplinary research opportunities

The University of Leicester’s centenary celebrations provide a timely opportunity for academics, staff and students to endorse our civic mission and engage anew with partners and stakeholders in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland (LLR). The University owes its existence to the foresight and commitment of local people, who in the aftermath of the First World War helped to champion and establish University College Leicester in 1921, in the belief that access to higher education would enable a better future for all in the city and counties. The College was awarded university status in 1957, and its history and fortune has been inextricably linked with the city and local communities in LLR. Over the years, we have worked together passionately, to reap new opportunities, face immense challenges and help to improve lives in communities locally across the UK and internationally. Community partnership and collaboration can readily be witnessed through the hundreds of academics, students and staff who are actively involved with mission driven charities and third sector organisations many of whom participated in the Centenary Community Engagement Fund Workshop in November. Our leading researchers also have very strong links with community facing organisations and major institutions such as the University Hospitals of Leicester Trust. The same is true of multi-disciplinary academic research teams collaborating proactively with charities, businesses, social enterprises and organisations in a wide range of sectors from social care to arts and culture. This paper is concerned with the Centenary Community Engagement Fund just one of the new civic initiatives launched during our Centenary year. This Fund will provide £125,000 in philanthropic funding for novel interdisciplinary research with partners and for more sought after internships for our talented students