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Listening to Patients & Building Positive Experiences Matter at SWSLHD

Have you ever noticed that hospitals often only get featured in the mainstream media when something goes wrong? Often an accident, medical error or staff dispute becomes a feature news piece, rather than all the good work that goes on with treating patients and healing their emotions.

I find that hospitals are occasionally challenged with having to change perceptions in the media and the community. Negative perceptions tend to surface in town council meetings, through complaints managers, and digital channels such as Facebook, Twitter and even Google reviews. This trend is unfortunate, but it is real, and there are certainly significant opportunities to shift negative perceptions in the community.

‘Listening’ to the needs of consumers, patients and the public through a multi-channel approach and then taking action on their feedback is an effective way to address this.

At Energesse, we do this is by helping our client hospitals with their communications strategy alongside the collection of patient feedback in real-time. The aim of the strategy is to build awareness externally of the hospital’s focus on listening to patients and improving patient-centred care. Evidence has shown that communicating with external stakeholders is just as important as internal stakeholders (watch https://qi.elft.nhs.uk/resource/derek-feeley-jason-leitch/ from 40:30 onwards for the #7stories approach when listening to the community – Derek Feeley, President of IHI/BMJ and Jason Leitch, National Clinical Director, Healthcare Quality and improvement at IHI/BMJ Conference Kuala Lumpur 2017).

Recently, South Western Sydney Local Health District (SWSLHD), in alignment with the District’s Transforming Your Experience strategy, aimed to better engage their patients and community to understand their experiences and build more positive stories and stronger relationships with the community and in the media.

Read on about SWSLHD’s digital measurement platform and the launch of the My Experience Matters Survey, supported by Energesse….

If you would like to find out more about how Energesse  can support your hospital/clinic/organisation’s communication and messaging strategies, don’t hesitate to call or email us

 

About the Author: Dr Avnesh Ratnanesan

Dr Avi is a medical doctor with broad healthcare sector experience including hospitals, biotech, pharmaceuticals and the wellness industry. He is a leading expert who coaches and consults to senior executives, entrepreneurs, practitioners, organisations and governments.