Authors (including presenting author) :
NGAI HF (1), SIT YK (1), FAN TS (1), LIU CY (1), WONG KF (1), LAW WY (1), CHEUNG S (1), QUEK YS (1), HAU LM (1)
Affiliation :
(1) Patient Relations Office, Quality & Safety Division, NTWC
Introduction :
Most of our healthcare professionals would make every effort to serve and attend to every patient with tender loving care. Their hard work and contributions should be recognized by the public and hospital management so that every staff member feels being valued. To enhance the culture of appreciation, it is important to promote the mode of recognition across departments and hospitals.
Objectives :
To foster positive feedback and appreciation culture to hospital staff from patients and relatives by identifying different appreciation and recognition initiatives.
Methodology :
Staff Appreciation Award was established in Tuen Mun Hospital (TMH), Pok Oi Hospital, Tin Shui Wai hospital in 2023; Castle Peak Hospital and Siu Lam Hospital in 2024. Awards, including certificates and gifts, were delivered to the Departments/ Units to recognize the highest number of appreciations for each quarter. The most frequently awarded units were invited to attend the Appreciation Ceremony to share insights on quality service from the perspective of service users. Furthermore, the most heartwarming appreciation stories were selected by senior management were shared to promote the positive attitude in clinical service. Staff are encouraged to report the nature of appreciations received, and an e-Appreciation Reporting System was developed in the HA Chatbot for ease of submission in NTWC. Additionally, holiday-themed appreciation cards were distributed during Christmas to encourage patients and caregivers to share their joy with the hospital. These initiatives boost the morale of all staff and serves as positive reinforcement to motivate further service improvements.
Result & Outcome :
Our dedicated efforts had harvested significant recognitions from the community, resulting in a remarkable 102% increase in appreciations rising from 2,126 to 4,305 across the 5 hospitals from the year of 2022/23 to 2023/24. Appreciation of TMH increased from 970 in 2022/23 to 1,701 (+75%) in 2023/24. This indicates that the culture of appreciation is becoming more prevalent. Notably, NTWC experienced a 75% reduction in complaints and 28% decrease in feedback cases during the same timeframe, further demonstrated the effectiveness of our initiatives which has already cultivated a culture of appreciation in NTWC. This outcome reflects not only our commitment but also the increasing staff engagement and satisfaction among our patients and their families.
