An extension of a campaign started by an NHS Doctor aims to improve our patients' experiences when using our hospital’s services.

“Hello, my name is…” was started by Dr Kate Granger, who passed away in 2016 after a battle with cancer. Her campaign was designed as a way of improving first impressions when patients and their families come in to our hospitals and has been adopted throughout NHS trusts nationally.

Our Patient Partnership Council (PPC) agreed that, with patient experience at the heart of their purpose, development and use of this initiative should be a priority for our Trust. We know that patient experiences can vastly differ depending on by who, where and when they are seen.

After taking the initial step of introducing ourselves with “Hello, my name is…” we have now added three additional elements, creating a four-point guide of how we will introduce ourselves to our patients.

This is based on the expectation that every patient or visitor should be greeted in a respectful, polite and informative way that puts them at ease, and opens the door for them to ask any questions or raise any concerns. This should happen every time, by everyone in our organisation.

Every one of our patients is an individual who may be accessing our services for the first time. They may be scared, confused or worried. The moment it takes to introduce ourselves the right way can make all the difference to someone who is at their most vulnerable.

The initial impression a visitor makes will set the tone for the rest of their journey through our care. The first time they meet their consultant or nurse will inform the ongoing relationship they have.
We believe that with a set of simple ‘rules’ we can make a big difference to the culture in our Trust and that will have huge benefits to our patients.

The form has been designed following feedback from patients and carers that they sometimes struggle to remember the names of the nurses/doctors that are caring for them, or they might think of a question during the evening but may have forgotten by the time the Doctors are doing their rounds.

We hope that the form will give patients and carers an easy way of making a note of these things. Also by providing patients with an opportunity to raise a concern or ask a question during their stay, we can try to resolve it for them at the time and not after they leave us. We hope this will support our continued improvement in our positive recommendations.

The form is for patients and carers to write any useful information and to act as a memory jogger.

Download our information sheet: Whos involved in my care [pdf] 295KB

We have The Hospital Communication Books at the main reception desks of our hospitals, located in our main Outpatient Departments, Emergency Departments and Inpatient wards.

In the meantime if you are a patient or visitor who would find this tool helpful, then you can download some free versions

The King George and Queen’s Hospital Charity have funded Sleep Well Packs packs, to help us respond to our patients who tell us that they are finding it difficult to sleep due to noise or lights on in the ward.

The packs contain ear plugs, an eye mask, a note pad and pen.