Praise from a patient who commended the “kindness, professionalism and teamwork” of staff at Macclesfield Hospital should be used for training, health chiefs have been told.
Karen Smith, head of nursing, and Mel Pearson, ward manager, told East Cheshire NHS Trust’s July board meeting, whose minutes have been released, about the patient story, regarding a patient admitted via the Emergency Department, who praised that department, surgical staff and ward one team for their “compassionate, clear and non-judgemental care”, highlighting the reasonable adjustments made and saying these had helped them feel understood and supported.
The patient commended the “kindness, professionalism and teamwork of all staff”, saying that this was the first hospital admission where they felt “fully respected” as an autistic individual. They were discharged feeling both physically recovered and emotionally supported.
Jo Jackson, chief people officer, asked if staff members’ approaches had become embedded in practice. The ward manager said that on ward one there was “a strong focus” on recognising neurodiversity, ensuring reasonable adjustments were made where required, and highlighting patient needs during handovers.
She said that staff were “very passionate” about this area of care.
Prof Anya Ahmed, a non-executive director of the board, queried if there would be an opportunity to share the feedback more widely and Ms Pearson confirmed that an anonymised version of the letter would be shared with other areas, adding that all wards should be demonstrating similar practice.
Ms Smith said that the feedback provided “an excellent example” of “what good looks like” and could be used as a learning and training resource.
She noted the importance of providing “compassionate, non-judgemental” care, particularly as not all patients would disclose their neurodiversity.
Chris Beacock, another non-executive director, said the feedback demonstrates the positive impact of staff training and suggested that aspects of the patient’s response could be incorporated into future staff training materials.
The meeting was told that the patient had offered to visit the hospital following their recovery to share their lived experiences with staff.
Chief Nurse Kate Daly-Brown said she would share the story more widely across the trust, and highlighted the role of leadership in fostering compassionate care.
