Reinvigorated compassion in health care

We are interested in the behaviours at the heart of health systems. There is often a gap between rhetoric and reality, seen most starkly in the difference between what is wanted in care for patients and what many experience. The four articles here outline some of the ideas we have been sharing over the last few years. Since 2007 we have been leading highly evaluated sessions for Board leaders who are keen to bring compassion right into the heart of the NHS, but who find this a struggle. We believe there is a growing, staff led, social movement for reinvigorated compassion in health care – a groundswell we are proud to be part of.

Short piece from JRSM, Inconvenient Truths, 2006
Longer article from JRSM, What is needed for the NHS to improve, 2007
Article by a senior nurse following a workshop we ran, 2007
Idenk think piece on getting values and desired behaviours into action
Lexicon of leadership: S for Stories of Satisfaction (7 is the new zero you know?) [Need to link to sept newsletter 2008]

NHS Confederation session

We supported a session at the 2008 HS Confederation Conference, 18 June 2008: http://www.nhsconfed.org/issues/issues-3729.cfm#NHS-49537-1

Our session picked up this NHS Confederation discussion paper here. This resource is written largely by Robin Youngson - a medic from New Zealand. Robin is one of the founders of the global movement for compassion.

Some the comments made on the NHS Confederation paper here: http://www.debatepapers.org.uk/Comments.aspx?paper=3

An outline of our session is in this short record (795KB).