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Week 3

Posted by
Zach Moss
Published
A picture of a box set of walking guides I ordered recently. An example of posh paper!

Pictured: a beautifully designed set of walking guides

  • Didn’t quite make it to a breakfast spot this week, but I did make a list of breakfast spots (see bottom) to visit so it will become a thing. Any good tips let me know.

GP IT systems

  • I spent a silly amount of time this week investigating GP IT systems — specifically a coding system called SNOMED CT which is a ‘a structured clinical vocabulary for use in an electronic health record’. Why? When people complete their advance decision form we tell them to share it with their GP so it can be added to their medical record. We think we need to update our GP cover sheet as we’re still referring to ‘Read Codes’. Long story short, GP IT is messy. Doesn’t help that advance decision forms are known by several names…
A screenshot of the SNOMED CT system and all the clinical terminology of advance decision forms.

Pictured: screenshot of the SNOMED CT system and all the clinical terminology of advance decision forms.

Posh paper

  • There is no one single advance decision form. For background, advance decisions and advance statements sit in a slightly strange policy space. While they were created by the same legislation (Mental Capacity Act) as Lasting Power of Attorneys, the government has declined to take on any service provision. This has led to a proliferation of countless different forms. And as a result, I think, a certain lack of trust in any one form overall. So how do you build trust in a form?
  • Thinking back to the 10-week discovery we did looking into all things GPs and advance decisions. There was an issue with GPs trusting certain forms. They are rightly worried about badly drafted advance decisions. Clarity is important when it comes to important decisions at the end of life.
  • So posh paper then?! This is a mere seedling of an idea. Would a thicker, high quality and visually attractive advance decision form be more trustworthy and instill more confidence than a rough and ready version someone’s printed themselves at home on their £100 home printer, maybe a bit crumpled at the edges? Maybe it’s even embossed, or letterpressed, or stamped with authority…wax sealed?
  • I was reminded of this idea when I received the Perambulation box set (pictured above) through the post. It’s a set of beautifully designed walking guides for those interested in modernist houses. You can tell the designer has a love of printed things — it really is lovely to look at, touch and feel. It instills a lovely feeling of quality.
  • How might we apply this type of design thinking to our advance decision form?

Holiday

  • Booked a trip to Copenhagen. Tips welcome.

My list of breakfast spots to try…

  1. Bull & Last (cooked)
  2. Prufrock Coffee (cooked)
  3. Bread by Bike (cooked)
  4. Fischers (cooked)
  5. Pophams Islington (pastries only?)
  6. Brother Marcus (cooked)
  7. Sunday Cafe (cooked)
  8. Catalyst Cafe (no idea?)
  9. The Wolseley (cooked)
  10. Koya Soho (cooked)
  11. Dishoom (cooked)
  12. 26 grains (cooked porridge)
  13. Normans Cafe (cooked)