Essence of care 2010: benchmarks for communication

The Essence of Care benchmarks are a tool to help healthcare practitioners take a patient-focused and structured approach to sharing and comparing practice. There are 12 benchmarks in total. This document outlines the benchmarks for communication, in order to support people and their carers to experience effective communication. It starts by listing the general indicators that apply to every factor: people’s experience; diversity and individual needs; effectiveness; consent and confidentiality; people, carer and community members’ participation; leadership; education and training; documentation; service delivery; safety; and safeguarding. It then lists the factors specific to communication, together with their supporting indicators. The factors are: interpersonal skills; opportunity for communication; assessment of communication needs; information sharing; resources to aid communication and understanding; identification and assessment of principle carer; empowerment to perform role; co-ordination of care; Empowerment to communicate needs; Valuing people’s and carers’ expertise and contribution; People’s and/or carers’ education needs.