The ‘Hello my name is…’ campaign was created by Dr Kate Granger, who at 29 was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Kate is a young hospital consultant from Yorkshire who works in elderly care. Last summer whilst having treatment, Kate became frustrated with the number of staff who failed to introduce themselves to her. Her campaign, started on social media platform Twitter, has inspired many staff from across the NHS to lend their support to the campaign.

The campaign is simple – it is about reminding staff to go back to basics and introduce themselves to patients and their relatives properly. Kate talks about this as “the first rung on the ladder to providing compassionate care” and sees it as the start of making a vital human connection, helping patients to relax, and building trust. Feedback from patients across the country has shown how vital this is to them, saying that the smallest things make the biggest difference.

John Adler, Chief Executive at Leicester’s Hospitals said: “Backing this campaign was an easy decision. We had already adopted it in small ways across the organisation, but working with the Listening into Action (LiA) team and other NHS Trusts will push this to the forefront of everyone’s minds.”

“We want our patients to remind us if we are busy and forget to introduce ourselves when we first meet them. I know how important the patient experience is to my staff and that they will all give their backing to Dr Granger’s campaign.”

“As well as asking staff to tell their patient’s their names, we are also reminding them to introduce colleagues who are taking over an individual’s care following a shift change. That way, our patients and their families will always know who is looking after them, which in turn will help them to relax and feel safe while in our care”.

Kate said: “ I think the main messages from the campaign about high quality communication and always treating our patients as people with respect and dignity. I really hope my legacy will be exactly that, putting compassionate practice right at the heart of healthcare delivery every single day.”

You can see more about Dr Granger’s campaign at http://hellomynameis.org.uk/home and on Twitter #hellomynameis.