Hospital at the heart of the community

Date: 19 July 2017

Engagement at Kent Show

We never forget that Medway is your hospital – the hospital is in the heart of the community, and most people will come into contact with our services at some point.

It is therefore essential that we listen to your feedback – your positive experiences as well as when things haven’t gone as well as we would want.

In addition to the more traditional ways of letting us have your views such as patient surveys and PALS, we are developing a network of people who are keen to be more engaged in the hospital as we work to improve services for the future.

Krishna Devi recently joined the Trust as Community Engagement Officer, and has been busy getting to know many different community and voluntary organisations with a view to involving them in discussions where appropriate.

Krishna said: “I have met hundreds of people already from many groups ranging from the Youth Parliament to Kent Active Retirement Association and the Medway Ethnic Minority Forum.

“People have been really enthusiastic about giving their thoughts and sharing their experiences of care with us. This sort of feedback, the lived experiences that people have had and the impressions that they have of the care that we provide, is really important to hear.

“One of the things that I have heard from a number of the people that I have talked to is that they are feeling more confident about the care that we provide, and they feel that the Trust is becoming more professional in how they look after patients.

“On the other hand, I’ve also heard from people that they have found that navigating the NHS and the different organisations and departments can be quite difficult and confusing.

“This is an important issue and by hearing people’s experiences we can look at how we can improve things for them.

“One of the most encouraging things I have found so far though is that people are really keen to hear more about what’s happening at the Trust, and give us their views to help shape what happens in the future.”

If you would like to get more involved, please contact Krishna Devi, our Community Engagement Officer on:

Telephone: 07852 714954
Email: krishna.devi@nhs.net 

And don’t forget, you can become a member of the Trust and receive regular updates, as well as invitations to our member events throughout the year. To find out more, call 01634 825292, email members@medway.nhs.uk, or join online today.

  • Summary:

    In addition to the more traditional ways of letting us have your views such as patient surveys and PALS, we are developing a network of people who are keen to be more engaged in the hospital as we work to improve services for the future.