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Aims and objectives To update and re-validate the Valuing Patients as Individuals Scale for use as a patient appraisal of received healthcare. Background Healthcare in the United Kingdom and beyond is required to deliver high quality, person-centred care that is clinically effective and safe. However, patient experience is not uniform, and complaints often focus on the way patients have been treated. Legislation in United Kingdom requires health services to gather and use patients' evaluations of care to improve services. Design This study uses scoping literature reviews, cognitive testing of questionnaire items with patient and healthcare staff focus groups, and exploratory factor analysis. Methods/Setting/Participants Data were collected from 790 participants across 34 wards in two acute hospitals in one National Health Service Health Board in Scotland from September 2011-February 2012. Ethics and Research and Development approval were obtained. Results Fifty six unique items identified through literature review were added to 72 original Valuing Patients as Individuals Scale items. Face validity interviews removed ambiguous or low relevance items leaving 88 items for administration to patients. Two hundred and ninety questionnaires were returned, representing 37% response rate, 71 were incomplete. Thus 219 complete data were used for Exploratory Factor Analysis with varimax orthogonal rotation. This revealed a 31 item, three factor solution, Care and Respect; Understanding and Engagement; Patient Concerns, with good reliability, concurrent and discriminant validity in terms of gender. A shortened 10 item measure based on the top 3 or 4 loading items on each scale was comparable. Conclusions The Updated Valuing Patients as Individuals Scale is sufficiently developed to capture patient appraisals of received care. Relevance to clinical practice The short scale version is now being routinized in real-time evaluation of patient experience contributing to this United Kingdom, National Health Service setting meeting its policy and legislative requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the use of complementary and alternative medicines ( CAMs) therapy by UK healthcare professionals involved in the care of pregnant women, and to identify key predictors of use. Design A prospective survey. Setting Maternity services in Grampian, North East Scotland. Sample All healthcare professionals (135) involved in the care of pregnant women (midwives, obstetricians, anaesthetists). Methods Questionnaire development, piloting, and distribution. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis. Results A response rate of 87% was achieved. A third of respondents (32.5%) had recommended (prescribed, referred, or advised) the use of CAMs to pregnant women. The most frequently recommended CAMs modalities were: vitamins and minerals (excluding folic acid) (55%); massage (53%); homeopathy (50%); acupuncture (32%); yoga (32%); reflexology (26%); aromatherapy (24%); and herbal medicine (21%). Although univariate analysis identified that those who recommended CAMs were significantly more likely to be midwives who had been in post for more than 5 years, had received training in CAMs, were interested in CAMs, and were themselves users of CAMs, the only variable retained in bivariate logistic regression was 'personal use of CAM', with an odds ratio of 8.26 (95% CI 3.09-22.05; P < 0.001). Conclusion Despite the lack of safety or efficacy data, a wide variety of CAM therapies are recommended to pregnant women by approximately a third of healthcare professionals, with those recommending the use of CAMs being eight times more likely to be personal CAM users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]