Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (WWL) is one of many NHS Trust’s around the UK continuing to support the ‘Hello, my name is…’ campaign which aims to improve the patient experience.
The ‘Hello, my name is…’ campaign is an international movement created by the late Dr Kate Granger MBE, a registrar in elderly medicine who developed terminal cancer at the age of 29.
After becoming frustrated with the number of staff who failed to introduce themselves to her when she was an inpatient with post-operative sepsis at an NHS Hospital, Kate began a social media initiative in August 2013 in a bid to encourage and remind healthcare staff about the importance of introductions in healthcare. The campaign has made over 2.5 billion impressions on Twitter since it’s conception.
This year, the campaign is celebrating its 10th anniversary, and, in honour of the anniversary, WWL recently welcomed co-founder and widow of Kate, Chris Pointon to visit the Trust again to promote the campaign.
Rabina Tindale, Chief Nurse, said: “At WWL we really want to continue to support and promote this important campaign, making sure that a simple introduction is the first rung in the ladder to providing truly person-centred care.
“I am proud of the staff at WWL for wearing the campaign’s logo with pride and will continue to raise awareness about the campaign all year round. Congratulations to Chris and the whole ‘Hello, my name is...’ team for continuing to share Kate’s story and honouring her legacy.”
Chris returned to WWL to present his very personal story to staff at the Trust’s Wrightington Hospital site, sharing the journey of ‘Hello, my name is…’ on Kate’s behalf. Chris spoke about the determination and the importance of the campaign and how four simple words can change a patient’s experience.
“I feel grateful to be welcomed back to WWL, a Trust that I visited last year. It is so great to see the amazing work that the staff at WWL do to make this campaign shine. I can see such progress and that staff have worked even harder to make their patients experience better.”
Since Chris first visited the Trust back in July 2022 and the roll out of the ‘Hello, my name is….’ badges were first implemented, it has reiterated the importance for WWL staff to introduce themselves to patients and their visitors. Those visiting the Trust will notice our staff wearing bright yellow badges on uniforms, as well as having the campaign’s logo on lanyards and security badges.
“It is an honour to welcome Chris back on the 10th anniversary and a real privilege to hear about the work he continues to do in Kate’s memory” said Emma Rogers, Associate Chief Nurse, Quality and Patient Experience.
“We are continuing to roll out the campaign across all our Trust sites and premises to improve our patients experience of WWL.”