Authors (including presenting author) :
Chan NY(1), Kong SK(2), Sharon Lo(3), Tony Chan(4), Fong NC(5), Nicholas Ho(6), Kot KL(7), Kieran Li(8), Ivy Wong(1), Law CB(9)
Affiliation :
(1) Department of Medicine & Geriatrics, Princess Margaret Hospital
(2) Specialist Outpatient Department, Princess Margaret Hospital
(3) Kowloon West Cluster Corporate Communication Department
(4) Department of Neurosurgery, Princess Margaret Hospital
(5) Department of Paediatrics & Adolescents, Princess Margaret Hospital
(6) Department of Orthopaedics & Traumatology, Princess Margaret Hospital
(7) Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Princess Margaret Hospital
(8) Department of Surgery, Princess Margaret Hospital
(9) Cluster Chief Executive, Kowloon West Cluster
Introduction :
Both the Patient Experience Survey on Specialist Outpatient Service and Patient Experience Survey on Inpatient Service carried out in 2021 and 2023 respectively revealed a significant room for improvement in the culture of self-introduction. Self-introduction is the first step in communication and establishing rapport. Instilling a culture of self-introduction would potentially (1) enhance the trust between patients, relatives and healthcare professionals; (2) elevate the treatment compliance of patients and (3) make patients and relatives more embracing for the heavily loaded healthcare professionals.
Objectives :
To pilot and implement a self-introduction campaign in Princess Margaret Hospital.
Methodology :
The Self-Introduction Campaign was implemented in Princess Margaret Hospital during a 5-month period from January to May 2024. A working group involving doctors from different specialties, nurses from the Specialist Outpatient Department, representatives from the Cluster Corporate Communication Department and members from the Hospital Governing Committee was formed.
Result & Outcome :
Nameplates for doctors were installed on the doors and placed on the desks of all consultation rooms in Specialist Outpatient Clinics. 2 videos were produced for promotion and 2 rounds of prize quizzes based on the videos were organized. An email signature design competition was organized with awards selected either by a panel of judges or online voting. One of the designs has been used to produce name tags for use by healthcare professionals. The campaign was aggressively promoted via different channels, including department meetings, posters, hospital websites, email, HA Chat, Facebook and YouTube. A total of 1,371 colleagues have participated in the campaign. The Princess Margaret Hospital Self-Introduction Campaign was successfully organized and well-received with a sizable number of participants. Any cultural change requires persistent effort over a prolonged period of time. The Kowloon West Cluster Self-Introduction Campaign, with a larger scale and targeting to healthcare professionals of different disciplines, is being planned. Mini-surveys will be performed before and after the campaign to allow objective evaluation of the benefits.
