Improving patient experience

Ensuring our patients' experience at our hospitals is as positive as possible is a major priority at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.

We have recently launched a series of initiatives to help us improve the way our patients are treated, starting from the moment they walk through the door.

A welcoming hospital
We are improving the welcome that our patients and visitors receive when they visit any of our hospitals. We are enhancing the physical environment in each of our reception areas to ensure it is warm and friendly, and developing a 'meet and greet' service for each of the main entrances at Charing Cross, Hammersmith and St Mary's hospitals.

'Back to the floor' Fridays
Each Friday our senior nurses set aside their administrative duties and spend the day in uniform on our wards and other clinical areas to monitor standards of care and to support our other staff. This helps us to respond quickly to problems and implement change effectively.

Protecting mealtimes
We operate protected mealtimes in all of our adult inpatient areas. At set times throughout the day, all non-urgent clinical activity stops to help patients eat their meals in a calm atmosphere. The protected mealtimes are:

  • Breakfast: 07.45 - 08.45
  • Lunch: 13.00 - 14.00
  • Dinner: 18.00 - 19.00

We will build on the success of our protected mealtimes initiative as part of our three-year nursing and midwifery strategy.

Delivering same-sex accommodation
We are proud to confirm that mixed-sex accommodation has been virtually eliminated in all our hospitals. You can read more in our delivering same-sex accommodation section.

Patient experience tracker technology
We are running a trial of patient experience tracker technology in selected wards and departments throughout our hospitals. The handheld mobile devices allow patients to respond to five questions about their care while still in hospital. Once downloaded, the information is returned to the ward or department weekly to allow staff the chance to make immediate improvements where necessary.

Project smile
To help ensure our maternity patients are treated with dignity and respect, we have created a short training film to raise awareness of how different behaviours might look and feel to women. The film will be used in mandatory training sessions for all doctors and midwives.