nhs communications in the election run-up - pitfalls and opportunities

Opportunities and pitfalls (and how the NHS is doing) as we

approach the general electionJoe McCrea

Managing Director J B McCrea Ltd @jbmccrea

Opportunities

The voters' contextWhat would persuade you to support changes in your local NHS services?

Source: NHS Confederation survey - Autumn 2014

The voters’ contextWhich of the following do you think politicians are most dishonest about?


The voters' contextWhich, if any of the following roles, do you think MPs should play in future changes to the NHS?


So what does that tell us of the opportunity?

• Local people want to be involved in informed debate about their NHS and are open to argument and persuasion about the case for change

• They trust information from their local NHS and its staff more than they trust the views of their local MPs and candidates

• They want their politicians to be seen to play a positive part in change if the arguments from the NHS stack up - this is the Election where lazily accepted electoral wisdom can be turned on its head

The Election is as much an

opportunity for the NHS as it is for the politicians or the

media

The voters' contextIf your local NHS needs to change how it provides care, how do you want to be involved in this process? ?


The voters' contextYou said there were changes to your local NHS service within the last 5 years you strongly supported/opposed. Did you undertake any of the following forms of action to express your views?


Keep it local and social…Your

traditional comms and engagement

channels

Your own Social Media

Interaction with others’ Social Media

Local patient groups

Local candidates Local Media

National News and Political Media

Benefit from and tend to prefer

smooth, positive engagement

Have a vested interest in

maintaining a positive local relationship

You have editorial control of what is said in your name

Can be deployed by you instantly and

cheaply

You have instant public or private

response or right of reply

So what does that tell us of the opportunity?

• Local people value engagement from the NHS via consultations, surveys, staff views and social media more than one-to-one conversations on health matters with their local MPs and candidates

• By combining social media with surveys, consultations and open dialogue with local patient groups - the NHS can better meet the preferences of the majority of local people than with traditional public meetings

• Social Media is - compared with other communication channels - cost-effective, instant, flexible and in your control

The Election is as much an

opportunity for the NHS as it is for the politicians or the

media

Pitfalls

The visibility trap…• Just because YOU see your

tweets, it doesn’t mean that the world does

• The ONLY people who see your tweets are those who follow you OR their followers - and only if they choose to mention, favourite or retweet you

• Finding and securing the right followers and engaging their interest is crucial

The isolation trap…• If you’re not careful Social Media

can become simply an end in itself - isolated from the real needs and pressures of your organisation

• This runs the danger that it fails to deliver for the Board and loses support

• It is crucial that you integrate your social media with Improvement, Listening and Engagement strategies

Social Media Improvement

Listening Engagement

• TO SUPPORT AND DEVELOP OUR STAFF

• TO PROMOTE COMPASSION AND CARE

• TO LISTEN AND RESPOND TO YOUR FEEDBACK

• TO ENSURE SAFETY FOR PATIENCES

WHY WE ARELISTENING

• TO PURSUE EXCELLENCE

• TO PERFORM BRILLIANTLY

• TO DELIVER QUALITY

• TO WORK IN PARTNERSHIP

The isolation trap…• If you’re not careful Social Media

can become simply an end in itself - isolated from the real needs and pressures of your organisation

• This runs the danger that it fails to deliver for the Board and loses support

• It is crucial that you integrate your social media with Improvement, Listening and Engagement strategies

• That will make you AND your bosses SMILE!

SMILE

How is the NHS doing with the visibility trap?

© jbmccrea

We now know for the first time…

• There are estimated 15 million UK Twitter followers

• We identified the 238,927 accounts with the strongest interest in the NHS

• We ranked the 4,528 of these who follow @theKingsFund and @hsjnews and @NHSEngland and @CareQuality Comm and @nhsconfed

• That’s less than 5,000 out of 15 million -the crucial 0.003%

The strongest National Followers

Source: J B McCrea Ltd “Find SoMeone in Health” Data store

In the top spot was the comms team for @MINDCharity .

There were some amongst the top 50 of this group that could readily have been predicted, for example:• @NHSLeadership• @MidwivesRCM• @ProfSteveField• @profchrisham• @rcgp

But there were also some surprises and some less well known stealth revolutionaries in the top 50, for example:• @claireOT - occupational therapist• @sagefemmeSB - midwife• @CombatStress - veterans mental

health charity• @pauljebb1 - asst director of nursing• @BobHudson - public policy academic

The strongest National Followers


We analysed all of the Twitter accounts used by NHS Organisations and ranked them using a combination of their numbers of followers and numbers of tweets.

In the top spot is Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust - @GreatOrmondSt

4 of the top 10 are Ambulance Trusts

There is a wide mix of types of NHS organisation, including NHS Foundation Trusts, NHS Trusts, Community Healthcare Trusts, Ambulance Trusts, CCGs and national organisations.

The NHS Top 50 Twitteratti


Never the twain? - Local Healthwatch and national NHS accounts

60,000 people follow a local Healthwatch Twitter account

75% of people who follow a local Healthwatch Twitter account DO NOT follow ANY of:

@NHS England, @dhgovuk, @CareQualityCommission, @HealthwatchE OR @NHSCitizen

Follows local Healthwatch but no national NHS accountFollows local Healthwatch and at least one national NHS account


Never the twain? - Local Healthwatch and their local NHS Trust

On average, less than 5% of people follow BOTH their local Trust AND their local Healthwatch

On average, 81% of local Healthwatch followers do not follow their local Trust

On average, 94% of local Trust followers do not their local Healthwatch

Follows the organisation but not its HealthwatchFollows both the organisation and its HealthwatchFollows the organisation's Healthwatch but not the organisation itself


How is the NHS doing with the isolation trap?

NHS SoMe is still at a state of low maturityWe have carried out and analysed Social Media Capability Assessments completed by over 400 individuals working at all levels over more than 30 NHS organisations

© jbmccrea

NHS SoMe is still at a state of low maturity

It is at a reasonable state in:

• the degree to which it is beginning to use social media beyond mere ‘Broadcasting’ activities;

• the degree to which it reviews its content;

• the degree to which Boards and the wider organisation are beginning to get engaged.

© jbmccrea

NHS SoMe is still at a state of low maturity

But it is no more than adequate in:

• its involvement in others’ channels and communities;• its understanding of the views of its stakeholders;• the degree to which social media is integrated with Improvement, Listening and Engagement;• the degree to which social media is consciously and actively planned.

But the opportunity is achievable and rapid improvement is possible…

© jbmccrea

Investment of time in SoMe works!

Twitter impressionsYouTube views

18,000 Twitter August

344,400 Twitter Impressions September to

mid November

Over 4,000 YouTube views in 3 months

Aug - Nov 2014

Compared with total of 1,789 views over 2 year period Aug

2012-2014

So Me

Where it was in April 2013

So Me

A year later…

Joe McCrea Managing Director J B McCrea Ltd

@jbmccrea www.jbmccrea.com

Good luck and don’t forget to enjoy the challenge!

nhs communications in the election run-up - pitfalls and opportunities

Healthcare

local nhs services

local mps

majority of local people

positive local relationship

social media interaction

careful social media

local people value engagement

voters context