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More about this toolkit

This toolkit gives a step-by-step guide to improving patient experience of health care using a technique called experience-based co-design (EBCD).


The toolkit includes short videos from staff and patients involved in EBCD projects to help bring to life the successes and intense rewards of running this type of improvement project. It also includes downloadable resources such as template forms, letters, presentations and other materials to help you plan and carry out this approach. We hope it will inspire you to carry out a similar project – we would love to hear about any projects that you are running or have run using EBCD, please get in touch via info@pointofcarefoundation.org.uk

The toolkit originally stemmed from the Patient-Centred Care Project that was carried out within King’s College London, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust (which later became the King’s Health Partners Integrated Cancer Centre) across breast cancer and lung cancer services, in collaboration with The King’s Fund Point of Care Programme. This project used EBCD as the approach for improving the experience of patients and staff. It formed part of an extensive transformational programme within King’s Health Partners to improve cancer services for the population of south-east London, and was funded by the Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity.

The EBCD toolkit was developed by Catherine Dale, Programme Manager of the Patient-Centred Care Project, with writer Eleanor Stanley, video production by Frank Spencer, with project management from Joanna Goodrich, The King’s Fund, and advice from Glenn Robert, King’s College London.

The revised version was launched in 2013, to add new learning gathered from more than 60 EBCD projects, as well as responding to the requests of users of the toolkit. By that time, the approach had been used in at least seven countries, in services including mental health, accident and emergency (A&E), palliative care and surgical units. The revised toolkit includes new learning, recent research and case studies of sites that have used EBCD in their own way. An important adaptation is the accelerated form of EBCD which makes the approach more accessible to services with limited resources.

Thanks are due to the many people who contributed to this toolkit. They include individuals at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, Dimbleby Cancer Care, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, King’s Health Partners, NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, Oxleas NHS Mental Health Trust, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, The King’s Fund, King’s College London, the University of Birmingham and the University of Oxford.

Further thanks go to the many patients and staff who dedicated their time and energy to co-designing improvements within their services using the EBCD approach.