Staff at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust celebrated an international campaign aimed at improving patient experience through providing compassionate care.The international “hello my name is” campaign was created by Dr Kate Granger, a registrar in elderly medicine who was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
The campaign started back in 2013 when Dr Granger was in hospital herself and noticed that a number of staff failed to introduce themselves to their patients. Dr Granger then asked staff to make a pledge to introduce themselves in future to their patients.
This started a hugely successful, international social media campaign with the hashtag #hellomynameis.
Staff at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals have continued to promote and implement this campaign since its launch. Wards around the hospitals have now got #hellomynameis boards by patient’s beds in order to ensure that they know who is there to look after them, and make a conscious effort to introduce themselves to ensure familiarity and improved care. This includes photo boards at the entrances to wards with all of the staff on and their job title so that patients can be more aware of who they need to speak to for various issues or queries. This also aims to make staff more approachable and personable.
Since the launch of this campaign, staff have also implemented several initiatives to improve the experiences that patients have when they are in hospital. This includes the implementation of contact cards which include the name and contact details of the individual responsible for looking after you so that staff are more accessible and approachable.
Furthermore, a student midwife at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals has also implemented the #theatrecapchallenge asking people to write their name on their theatre caps in order to improve experiences of patients in theatres.
Gail Naylor, Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professionals Director at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals said: “We are so thankful to Dr Kate Granger for implementing this fantastic campaign, which has truly improved the care that NHS organisations around the country are providing for our patients.” “This campaign is particularly important to me as I had the huge privilege of meeting Kate and her husband Chris before Kate died, to hear Kate’s inspirational and moving story first hand. They were an amazing couple and Chris continues to keep Kate’s legacy alive.” “It truly is the simple things like an introduction, a smile or eye contact that make patients feel safe in our care, and those simple things can never be underestimated.” “I am truly proud of our staff for their dedication and commitment to this campaign to ensure that we are providing the best care for our patients through a more personable experience. It is great to see our theatre staff now leading a campaign with the theatre cap challenge to ensure the principles of “Hello My Name Is” are embedded in our theatre environments too.”