by Michael Carden
For the one of the first NHS trusts in the UK to be impacted by COVID-19 the message was clear, the comms team needed to keep it simple, keep learning and keep going. A key priority had to be keeping everyone safe and avoiding burn out from an incident with no clear end date.
You’ll learn:
• That in a crisis, going back to the fundamentals can provide a framework for activity and help build confidence
• The importance of being in the room where information is shared and decisions are taken
• How the values of openness, transparency and appreciation are crucial to organisational resilience and cohesion
There from the start
We were one of the very first trusts in the country to treat people for coronavirus. We sent our first all-staff email out at the end of January and received our first patient the following week.
We treated some of the highest numbers of patients requiring critical care in the country, including the prime minister. Our teams weren’t just on the frontline of our adult and children’s hospitals either – we run community services for two large London boroughs.
So as a comms team we really do feel like we’ve been right through this from the very beginning.
Here’s a few reflections on how, in times of crisis, it’s doing the simple things well that counts.
Facing up to the challenge
So what prepares you for doing an NHS comms job through a global pandemic such as COVID-19?
In some respects, nothing could have prepared any of us for the way in which the pandemic took hold, shutting down our schools, pubs, restaurants and shops. For not being able to see our friends and family for months on end. For generating a sense of fear and uncertainty across the whole country. And for the sheer relentlessness of the work, long hours, day-in day-out, over such a long period of time.
What made this most challenging, and what has made it so different to other crises or incidents, has been the way it has affected each and every one of us outside work as well as professionally. Coronavirus has invaded every single inch of our lives, physically and emotionally.
There were many times when I sat, slightly dazed after another full-on day at the hospital, in a deserted train carriage on my way home from the ghost town that was central London, wondering what on earth was going on, and whether I was even coming close to doing the right thing at work.
I’m sure that colleagues right across the country were feeling the same thing.
Take a deep breath
But, in so many other respects, we were all so much more prepared than we thought.
All our collective years of professional communications experience meant that we had all the skills we needed at our fingertips. It was just about taking a deep breath and remembering this in the context of what we were all living through.
Fundamentally, this was about getting clear messages out, to the right people, in a timely way. Basic communications – simple right?
Finding our feet
Well yes, but also very much no.
We were having to juggle operational and emotional communications, and to balance working at full pelt with keeping our team safe and avoiding burn out from an incident with no clear end date.
This felt extremely difficult in the early days. While our trust had been managing the response earlier than most, things escalated very quickly from an operational and societal perspective as the virus took hold.
But once we established a simple rota, making sure the right mix of people - both from a seniority and skills perspective - were available on site while allowing others to work from home, we found our rhythm. Here are some things that I learned.
Be in the right meetings
I am lucky to work somewhere where this happens, in the most part, as a matter of course. But not always, and I have worked places where it absolutely doesn’t, whether by oversight or design.
Put simply, if you don’t know what’s going on, you can’t communicate it properly. More importantly, you can’t influence it, shape it, or challenge it. Make sure you’re in the right rooms, actual or virtual.
Put patients first
It’s why we’re all here right? Think about what they need to know and what they might be worried about. Use all of your many channels to inform and reassure on a regular basis. Listen to what they are saying and respond. Be clear, honest and human.
Give staff the facts…
Our comms absolutely had to make sure people knew what they needed to know. What mask is it this week? How do you wear it? How do I get into work? What do I do if someone at home has symptoms?
So the information flow never stopped, and we made lots of changes to make sure that this information was both more frequent but also more accessible.
We sent daily chief executive emails and shifted our all-staff briefings online. We created a Coronavirus hub on our intranet designed to be the single point of information for staff, a virtual one-stop shop for working life through a pandemic.
…but think about their feelings too
We also wanted our comms to help staff feel that the trust was there for them and valued everything they were doing.
We tried to be open and honest - when we didn’t know the answer to something we said so.
We used every opportunity to recognise achievements and to say thank you.
We highlighted the contribution that everyone was making, not just the clinical teams, fantastic as they were. Everyone played an absolutely vital role in our response, and we wanted them to know that.
Protect your people
We had some high profile patients who attracted significant national and international media attention, as did some staff as a result of this. But it’s our job to protect their privacy and best interests and to help them through the situation, just like anyone else.
Just because there is interest in someone, that doesn’t mean people are entitled to know more, whoever they are. Stick to your guns.
Celebrate success
There’s always light in the darkest of times, and we’ve seen some amazing examples of how NHS staff have responded to the situation. Find the right stories, treat them sensitively, and think about the most appropriate way and time to tell them.
Did it work?
As you’d expect, we’ve done lots of evaluation and, while we definitely didn’t get everything right, we’re really proud of what we achieved.
It’s important to remember that we are not the sole influencers of people, and nor should we be. But at times of such heightened stress and uncertainty, with inconsistent information flying around from so many different sources, it is our job to help our patients and staff navigate this.
Here’s what one of our staff told us via our internal comms survey:
“At a very difficult time, clear, concise and well balanced communication made all the difference in making staff feel appreciated, overviewing what was going on across the trust and helping to navigate through these incredibly difficult, confusing and sometimes harrowing times.”
Keep going
None of what I’ve written in this piece is complicated, but remembering that when the world is coming crashing down around you is difficult.
And it doesn’t mean there is no place for innovation during a crisis – quite the opposite, and there will be countless examples of NHS comms teams, including ours, who have responded in the most creative of ways to the challenges they faced.
But when the things get really tough, and you think you don’t know what to do next, keep it simple, keep learning, and keep going – you do know what to do.
Michael Carden heads up the media and internal communications teams at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, where he has worked since February 2018. Prior to this he was head of communications at King’s Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre. Michael has been in NHS communications since 2005, working for local and national organisations including a number of years at the Department of Health, where he worked on the swine flu pandemic and the response to the Francis Inquiry amongst other things.
Twitter: @mdcarden
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/michael-carden/