#HELLO MY NAME IS

The 23rd of July is International #hellomynameis day in honour of Kate Granger who sadly died on that day in 2016 at the age of 34 from terminal cancer. Read about her incredible legacy for improving patient care and how you can get involved.

A message from Kate about the campaign… 

“Hello, my name is Dr Kate Granger MBE and I’m the wife of Chris Pointon and the co-founder of the #hellomynameis campaign”

I’m a doctor, but also a terminally ill cancer patient. During a hospital stay in August 2013 with post-operative sepsis, I made the stark observation that many staff looking after me did not introduce themselves before delivering my care. It felt incredibly wrong that such a basic step in communication was missing. After ranting at my husband during one evening visiting time he encouraged me to “stop whinging and do something!”

We decided to start a campaign, primarily using social media initially, to encourage and remind healthcare staff about the importance of introductions in healthcare.

I firmly believe it is not just about common courtesy, but it runs much deeper. Introductions are about making a human connection between one human being who is suffering and vulnerable, and another human being who wishes to help. They begin therapeutic relationships and can instantly build trust in difficult circumstances.

In my mind #hellomynameis is the first rung on the ladder to providing truly person-centred, compassionate care. This was the first ever tweet we sent using the hashtag… #hellomynameis 

#hellomynameis has made over 1.8 billion impressions since its conception with an average of 6 tweets an hour.”

Dr Kate Granger MBE

HOW TO GET INVOLVED 

Focus on introducing yourself to all your patients this July with Hello, my name is….

Download the ASMIRT Hello My Name Is poster and add your own name, upload your images to Twitter and tag us @ASMIRTorg

If you tweet, please include the hashtag #hellomynameis – if you’re not on social media you can send us pictures of all your #hellomynameis activities and we will share them for you.

HELLO MY NAME IS WEBSITE

Following Kate’s death in 2016, Kate’s husband and co-founder of the campaign, Chris Pointon is keeping the campaign alive through conference talks across the world, book writing, presenting awards and social media – find him on twitter @PointonChris