6107 Small box, big impact: Personalising paediatric care for children with medical complexity (CMC)

Objectives CMC have substantial healthcare use requiring contact with multiple professionals.¹ Key personal information is often lost within their extensive patient records. The delivery of personalised care is important to families. Small changes make a huge difference to user experience e.g. asking how parents wish to be addressed.² Families highlight that good communication (inter-professional, with parents and including the child) has a positive impact on both patient and carer wellbeing.³ We devised the 'A little bit about me' yellow box containing important personal information and preferences about the child/family, placed at the start of shared correspondence. It provides a visual reminder to professionals to review this prior to patient contact. It includes: Patient/carer name preference Baseline function Communication needs Patient likes/dislikes Named Consultant contact details A questionnaire was designed to gauge patient/family opinion before trialling it within the department. Methods Questionnaires were distributed to families attending appointments at the Child Development Service over a month period. Quantitative and qualitative results were reviewed to ascertain patient/carer opinion of the yellow box. Results 43 questionnaires collected (1 incomplete) 41/43(95%) thought that the box was good, really good or brilliant (Graph 1 with associated quotes) The majority of respondents felt the box would be useful in multiple healthcare settings (demonstrated by Graph 2). Suggestions were made of further usefulness within education, community and therapy contexts. 37/43(86%) thought that it would be useful for staff delivering care to be aware of the information in the yellow box Conclusion Patient and carer feedback regarding the introduction of the yellow box has been overwhelmingly positive, bolstered by quantitative and qualitative data. Its utility extends beyond outpatient contexts. Encouraging informal feedback from professionals has further affirmed its value. In-depth formal feedback on impact will be obtained from families and professionals following implementation in inpatient and outpatient settings. References Simon TD, et al. Children with complex chronic conditions in inpatient hospital settings in the United States. Pediatrics 2010. Nimmo S. Please don't call me mum. BMJ 2019. McLorie, et al. Understanding parents' experiences of care for children with medical complexity in England: a qualitative study. BMJ Paediatrics Open 2023.