Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

In 2020, Nuffield Oxford Hospitals Fund (NOHF) provided funding to build upon a project previously funded by the NOHF to demonstrate the sustainability of the approach used in incorporating patients as valued partners in education. Teaching medical students about the importance of consultation companions that will benefit patients and their companions.

Written by Dr Gina Hadley, MS Clinical Fellow and Honorary Clinical Lecturer in Neurology, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Oxford and Prof Gabriele De Luca, Professor of Clinical Neurology and Experimental Neuropathology, Honorary Consultant Neurologist, and Director of Clinical Neurosciences Undergraduate Education at the University of Oxford.

The Consultation Companions Grant was awarded in the spring of 2020. This report is based upon the progress report from April 2022 and chronicles the difficulties of face-to-face teaching with vulnerable patients. The extension in funding allowed the development of a highly rated session that has benefited two years of Year 5/Graduate Entry Medicine Year 3 (GEM 3) Oxford medical students (n=165 per year). The session is now a compulsory part of professionalism teaching for all students on the Brain and Behaviour rotation.

Aims

1)  Develop a curriculum in consultation with patients and their chosen companions and caregivers

2)  Deliver a communication skills sessions to all Year 5/GEM 3 Medical Students at Oxford Medical School during their ‘Brain and Behaviour’ module based upon the consultation companion curriculum.

3)  Demonstrate an increase in professionalism through reflective practice.

Pandemic-related disruptions

With the arrival of the pandemic and the suspension of Oxford Medical School studies in March 2020, the logistics of implementing the grant as planned became impossible. This proposal was designed to build upon previous NOHF funding to expand the highly rated Expert Patient Tutor (EPT) Programme.  EPTs with chronic neurological disease (multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s and peripheral neuropathy) are trained to educate students about key elements of history and neurological examination signs specific to their disease while providing constructive feedback about students’ approach facilitated by clinician educators. The idea of Consultation Companions was to consider the ‘third person in the room’, the person who accompanied patients to appointments or Expert Patient Tutor companion (EPTC). We moved EPTs in to a virtual space and it became clear that EPTCs would also need to be in an online format.

Impact

The Nuffield Oxford Hospital Fund has enabled the piloting of a novel addition to the curriculum in the Brain and Behaviour Course at Oxford Medical School. This session is delivered three times a year to the whole cohort of Year 5/Graduate Entry Year 3 students. 

NOHF Funding has been integral in developing sustainable resources for Year 5/Graduate entry Year 3 students at Oxford Medical School. Consultation Companions has the dual ability to raise the standard of the Hospital concerned in order to assist the development and carrying on of the Oxford University Medical School.  Patients and students will continue to benefit from this evidence-based intervention for years to come.