The ‘Hello, my name is…’ campaign is launching at Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (WWL).
The initiative encourages staff to wear a badge which prominently displays their name and job title, with the aim of eliminating confusion and strengthening communication between patients and members of staff.
Rabina Tindale, WWL's Chief Nurse, said: “A confident introduction is the first step to providing compassionate care and is often all it takes to put a patient at ease and help them feel relaxed when using our services.
“I firmly believe that this campaign, and our approach, will not only improve the delivery of care to our patients but also contribute to helping us develop compassionate and kind interactions with each other, strengthening our relationships across our teams.
The campaign was founded by the late Dr Kate Granger MBE, a registrar in elderly medicine who developed terminal cancer at 29-years-old.
Now an international movement, the campaign was created after Granger became increasingly frustrated with the number of staff who failed to introduce themselves to her when she was an inpatient with post-operative sepsis. In view of this, she kickstarted a social media campaign highlighting the importance of introductions and clear communication in healthcare.
Over 400,000 health workers from across the globe are now supporting Granger’s ambition for more personalised healthcare since her death in 2016.
To commemorate the launch of the campaign at WWL, Chris Pointon, the co-founder of the campaign and Kate’s husband, gave a presentation to staff at WWL’s Medical Education Centre.
He said: “I wanted to send a big thank you to you, all the staff at WWL, for being so welcoming during my visit to the Trust. It has been almost ten years since we launched the ‘Hello…My Name Is’ campaign and it really has shown that you can make a difference to people’s lives with just four little words.
“The campaign is all about human interaction between two people and about putting the patient at the heart of all decisions made around their healthcare. Communication really is key, the little things do really matter and seeing the individual as a person, not just as a condition, is just as important as it has ever been.”
More information about the launch is available here.
