It’s important that patients feel listened to and that they feel valued
and they feel that what they are going to say is contributing to their care.
If we can make their stay a good experience it makes us all happy, patients and the nurses.
You feel more confident when you know that they’ve listened to what you’ve said and
they’re actually going to so something about it.
It's really important for us to know we're doing the best job for our patients.
Whether they tell us something little, like their
dinner wasn’t right to something that could change the whole Trust, we must listen to them.
We had some feedback from our online survey to say that it would be nice to know
who the nurse in charge was on every shift and we went through various ideas about how
we could identify them and we came up with something that worked for everybody.
So the nurse in charge armband is worn by the nurse in charge on the day shift and the night shift.
It’s always nice to be able to recognise who I can go and talk to or ask to see and
then they can always go through things for us and also when the family comes sometimes
they ask questions and I can say, go and see the nurse in charge, got the band on.
Taking a few minutes, and that’s all it is, at the end of a clinical session
and just getting a few answers from each of the patients is a really easy thing to do.
One of the comments was it would be nice to have cup of tea and so that led us
to get a tea and coffee machine in place.
Not everybody eats in the morning,
there may be a patient will come in, the patient is weak, feeling bad, and so it’s very important that they
have these tea and coffee machines around.
The Trust decided to get new uniforms for the porters because
a patient had mentioned that the previous uniforms looked a bit worn
and they didn’t look as smart as they could be.
It's important to me to be greeted by a
a friendly and very smart looking porter. You get more confidence in them and you feel
happier in talking to them, perhaps, as a member of staff.
When patients come sometimes we are the first contact when they come to the hospital
and when you meet someone for the first time
that they do look smart and they do look presentable and in turn that
will make you feel more safe that will make you feel that you are in a professional environment.
We wanted to think of more fun ways for children to give us feedback.
So we came up with the idea of a feedback tree.
It’s a little picture on the wall of a tree and we’ve got some post it notes
in the shape of leaves and we encourage children and their families to complete these
and leave us feedback, good or bad, we really want to hear it.
We engage with patients and their families
and the public because we always learn from listening to them and involving them.
That’s the key thing, we want to involve them in decisions, and not just
tell them when we’ve decided what’s happening, but to involve them from the beginning.
I was asked if I would be interested in joining the patient reference committee
planning the new Cancer Centre at Guy’s.
They were looking for patients who had recently had cancer treatment.
And I was very keen that radiotherapy would be above the basement level.
I just think a bit of air, a bit of light will make all the difference.
I will be very proud that the actual patient reference group have had our say to help future patients.
I’m here to do some call assessing. I’m a volunteer.
We give feedback that can then
go and be used in a constructive way to help them improve the service to patients.
Independent feedback is very important.
I've learnt to change my tone and my approach in how
I deal with individuals to suit their need rather than my own need.
Patients told us that although our meals were varied it can sometimes
be cold by the time it got to them.
So with the help of the catering manager and the nurses on the ward
we devised a lid that goes over the food with a suction that keeps the food hot while they eat their main course.
It is a small change but it makes such a big difference to our patients.
Women and families told us that it would be really really great if the partners could
stay with them after they have given birth.
We put recliner chairs next to every bed
on the post natal ward and we invited all the partners
to stay overnight so that they don’t have to leave their
recently delivered partner and their baby.
I can’t imagine not having been given the opportunity to be able to spend the night here
and help out my wife with anything she needed
and to give my little daughter a cuddle when she needed it too.
We introduced these yellow badges following a patient’s complaint.
A patient said that he could not read staff name
and could not remember who they were speaking to
so we felt we had to do something, we are here for patients.
Those yellow badges are really really good
because they can be seen at a distance.
So when you come into a clinic and you don’t know
who's whom and you see the name of Bill or Ann or Sanjeev, you sort of feel as though
you know them. And if they talk to you for wee bit, you’re a friend.
That’s how it should be I think.