The Trust’s Dignity in Care group informed visitors, patients and fellow staff about recent and forthcoming initiatives around dignity.
They showcased improvements made in the hospital over the past year and all were welcome to come along and sign up to become a “Dignity Champion” themselves - committed to raising awareness and inspiring other people to take action.
A Department of Health initiative, Dignity Action Day asks all UK health and social care workers to take action in their place of work to promote dignity.
It is part of the Dignity in Care Campaign which launched in 2008 to ensure people receiving care are treated as individuals, given choice, control and a sense of purpose in their daily lives and provided with stimulating activities.
One member of Weston staff – Nurse Jayne Biddiscombe - became the 3,000th Dignity Champion last year – and there are many more on the hospital staff now – and more than 13,000 nationwide.
The Trust is proud to have its first ‘Dignity Unit’, which is Rowan Rehabilitation Unit, led by Sister Christina Bliss, where all the staff members have signed up as dignity champions.
It also has the well-established and widely-represented Dignity Group, which meets every month to discuss Trust wide issues around dignity and which patients are very welcome to join.
To date, the Trust’s Dignity in Care Group has been instrumental in the following:
The caring nature of staff in the Trust was noticed by National Dignity Ambassador Sir Michael Parkinson when he visited Weston General Hospital last year.
He said:”To me, the staff and volunteers at Weston hospital embodied the ethos of the dignity campaign, each person making their own contribution, however small to make things better.”
The Trust is keen to embrace his comments and continue to motivate staff to promote dignity and respect in all aspects of care for our patients.
Trust Chief Executive Lorene Read said: “Weston Area Health NHS Trust is proud to have embraced the Dignity in Care campaign wholeheartedly and will continue our commitment to offering dignity and respect to all our patients.
“We have placed dignity and respect high on our agenda and we will not become complacent - there are always opportunities to make improvements.
“This is a campaign that is here to stay, not just for one day, and it is not an ‘add- on’, but a vital aspect of everything we do for our patients.”
For further information, please contact Caroline Welch on 01934 647091