It would be fair to say that I’ve had mixed experiences of clinicians not introducing themselves, especially as a patient here in France. But I’m not alone and France isn’t the only country where introductions are not always forthcoming. It happens everywhere and, in some places more than others.
The reality is that healthcare professionals and allied team members are frequently so pressured that even simple ingrained reflexes go out of the window when they’re desperately multitasking… but then there are some perhaps where they assume that their name-badge / door plaque – if they have one – should do the talking.
Is that an excuse? Rarely. After all, how long does it take to say “Hello, my name is…” ?
In 2012, a campaign was launched in the NHS by a courageous young consultant geriatrician called Dr Kate Grainger. She had recently been given an advanced cancer diagnosis, and as her condition worsened, she was forced to spend more and more time in hospital. From her bed, she witnessed the thrum of daily ward activities, the people who passed to clean her room, bring meals, check her observations, etc, and was struck by how rarely anyone actually introduced themselves. On the surface, they were perfectly pleasant people… but to her, nameless and lacking in courtesy perhaps. Kate felt vulnerable and de-personified : an advanced cancer diagnosis occupying a bed… But how to change that would require a whole system change…
Dr Grainger’s idea was simple. It asked people only to take a few seconds and introduce themselves properly to their patients by saying “Hello, my name is…” … how that simple act could immediately foster confidence and bring a more human quality to the interaction between the caregiver and patient.
The campaign gained a lot of publicity and badges were made to remind their wearers of the importance of introducing themselves – you may well see them if you’re in a British hospital or GP practice.
Kate lived a further 5 years and died in 2016 but her poignant legacy lives on through this campaign:
