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Fostering a culture of open communication: our commitment to Freedom To Speak Up Month 2023

At HMT, we’ve always believed that the ability to speak up is crucial to provide the best quality healthcare, whether you’re a member of our team, a patient or resident under our care, or a family member.

 

In October 2023, we proudly took part in Freedom To Speak Up Month, championing the cause of open dialogue, awareness and empowerment.

 

The importance of Freedom to Speak Up:

The Freedom to Speak up initiative, by the National Guardians Office has gained momentum over the years as a critical driver of quality and safety within healthcare organisations. At its core, this movement encourages individuals to voice their concerns, share their experiences, and offer suggestions that can lead to improvements in healthcare processes. It is a powerful mechanism that not only supports the wellbeing of our patients and residents but also ensures our team members feel empowered to raise their voices.

 

Awareness stalls

To celebrate Freedom to Speak Up Month, we set up awareness stalls across our office, care home and hospital sites, which served as an inviting place for our teams to learn more about the Freedom To Speak Up initiative.

Here’s how these stalled helped us in spreading the message:

  • Providing information: our stalls were stocked with resources and materials that explained the Freedom To Speak Up Process, highlighting the steps to take when someone feels the need to raise a concern or make a suggestion.
  • Friendly faces: our trained and approachable Freedom To Speak Up Champions were present at the stalls, ready to listen, answer questions, and guide anyone wanting to understand the initiative better.

 

Our commitment

As we reflect on Freedom to Speak Up Month 2023, we are proud to have made substantial strides in fostering a better culture of open communication within our organisation. We will keep striving to improve the healthcare experience for our patients, residents, and teams, guided by the insights, concerns and suggestions of our community. We understand that to provide the best healthcare services, we must listen, adapt and learn wherever possible.