I was approached by The Weardale Practice, a GP practice in County Durham to help them with their patient communication and engagement.
The practice had some specific challenges going on – new systems being introduced to help patients, the need to change how the practice operate to be sustainable, and a general lack of awareness amongst patients of how best to access the health services they needed.
I worked with the practice to shape their patient-facing communications – improving the readability, finding a tone, putting myself as the writer in the position of the patient audience, and considering how I’d want to be communicated with, and what questions I’d want answers to.
We also pushed the limits of the type of engagement work that had been done before in general practice – we tapped into community groups, built strong press relationships and used targeted social media advertising.
A complete overhaul of all patient letters was delivered, based on a tone of voice document created in partnership with the patient participation group, and a new, modern and intuitive website was designed from scratch, based on research and analysis of what patients wanted.
One of the things that has been great about working with Rob, is how we I can give him a brief, he asks a couple of follow up questions, and then delivers a bespoke piece of work – whether it’s a report, a design or some copy – that gets right to the point of what we need.
Vicky Watson, Managing Partner, the Weardale Practice in 2018
There were two concurrent campaigns running across my work with the Weardale Practice.
The first was a community-wide survey aimed at gauging patients’ experiences, opinions and suggestions. Through an integrated campaign plan we gathered over 1,000 responses – 14% of the entire patient population.
The second was the formation and delivery of an annual programme of specific campaigns covering certain health conditions, helping patients get to know and understand the practice, and promoting different ways to access health care.
Through waiting room displays, website and newsletter articles, third-party email bulletins and a varied range and distribution of materials in physical form and across social media, the practice was able to engage with huge chunks of their patient population on a regular basis, building and strengthening relationships between the practice and those who use its services.