18 April 2019

The work of staff who provide care for patients, families and carers will be celebrated next week when the trust that runs Shropshire’s two acute hospitals takes part in Experience of Care Week.

Experience of Care Week is an international initiative, running from 22 April to 26 April, which recognises the value of each health worker’s contribution to a patient’s experience.

Many caring roles are carried out behind the scenes and not witnessed by the patient and their family, but every member of staff contributes to the experience a patient and their loved ones have while being treated at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH), which runs the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH) and the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford (PRH).

Ruth Smith, SaTH’s Lead for Patient Experience, said: “The Trust recognises and appreciates the work done by every employee to provide the very best experience for our patients. Whether on the front line or working behind the scenes, all staff provide a vital role in caring and together we are greater than the sum of our parts.”

SaTH are celebrating Experience of Care Week in a number of ways:

  • A patient experience film has been created to capture and recognise the value of SaTH’s ‘hidden heroes’ who contribute to a patient’s journey.
  • ‘Observe & Act’ is being rolled out across both hospital sites to improve patient experience. The purpose of Observe and Act is to view a patient’s service experience from their perspective and then learn from it, share good practice and where necessary act to make improvements.
  • Staff are being invited to share stories about how they made a positive difference to a patient’s experience.
  • As part of SaTH’s Patient and Carer Experience (PaCE) Panel, a carers’ sub-group has been established to focus on the support available to carers and the experience they have at SaTH.
  • New patient experience webpages have been developed and launched along with a new patient experience portal
  • The Dementia Support Team will be holding a Dementia Café at RSH and a mobile afternoon tea will be held on Ward 10 at PRH on Tuesday 23 April to support Experience of Care Week