United Kingdom

Citation

(2005), "United Kingdom", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 18 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijhcqa.2005.06218eab.002

United Kingdom

Europe, Middle East and Africa

United Kingdom

University hosts 37 French health professionals in £1m Anglo-French initiative to enhance patient care

Keywords: Patient care, Training, Health services, France, United Kingdom

Kent health professionals recently played host to 37 of their French colleagues as part of a £1m University of Greenwich at Medway initiative to share information on ways of delivering high quality patient care, and boost cross-Channel relations between health care workers.

The French doctors, nurses, psychiatrists and students spent a week visiting hospital and community-based health facilities in Kent, including Darent Valley Hospital, and academic departments at the University of Greenwich, where they gained a greater understanding of health care in Kent.

This innovative £1m project has enabled French and Kent-based health professionals to benefit from visits, study placements and training courses in each other’s countries over the past two years. It is led by the university of Greenwich in partnership with Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust; Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley Primary Care Trust; West Kent NHS and Social Care Trust and the Université Catholique de Lille.

“Both the French and Kent health professionals have much to learn from each other”, said project leader Myriam Brunswic, of the University of Greenwich School of Health & Social Care. “Since this project began, 500 people from at least 18 health professions have participated in visits and work placements and an equal number in hosting them. Many reported that it inspired them to introduce positive changes to their own ways of treating patients.”

A mental health nursing student from the University of Greenwich, Kevin Takooree, has recently returned from a 12-week placement at Hospital St Vincent de Paul in Lille, where he was very impressed by the facilities and standards of care. “It was a very modern hospital, responsive to the needs of its patients”, said Kevin. “It was more like a hotel, with each patient having their own room with en-suite bathrooms.”

“The placement was an invaluable learning experience for me. It’s made me more sensitive to the needs of patients, and opened my eyes to different ways of delivering high quality care to some of society’s most vulnerable people.

“My French nursing colleagues were impressed by Kent health professionals’ commitment to public health, and their efforts to keep mental health patients out of hospitals through intensive treatment.”

Kevin also noted the different ways in which France and the UK fund their healthcare. “France is the country in Europe most often held up as the gold standard for healthcare systems. It spends significantly more on healthcare than the UK as it is largely funded by a compulsory health insurance system, which provides up to 70 per cent of its funding. France spends 9.6 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on health compared to 6.8 per cent in the UK.”

The University of Greenwich offers a wide variety of nursing, midwifery, psychology and other healthcare courses, details of which can be found at: www.gre.ac.uk/schools/health/index.htm