When you work in a place like Addenbrooke’s, it’s easy to forget that most people want to have as little to do with us as possible. Personally, I love coming here to work – but our patients aren’t usually here by choice. They just want to get well and go home.
Whilst they’re here, though, it’s our job to provide the best care possible. In clinical terms, we’re managing that: I think people know that if they come to Addenbrooke’s, they’re getting some of the highest quality treatment in the country. A recent survey showed that we have one of the lowest mortality rates in the UK, and we’ve just been named one of the top 40 hospitals for the sixth year in a row.
But providing excellent clinical care is not enough. For the NHS to survive, it needs to embrace the same sort of customer service principles as a hotel: patients don’t necessarily have the expertise to judge the quality of the clinical treatments we provide, but anyone can look at a ward and see if it’s a clean and pleasant place to be. Anyone can tell in an instant whether they’re getting prompt, friendly, personal service. I want our staff to look at things through a patient’s eyes and treat them as they themselves would want to be treated – or indeed, as they would want their loved ones to be treated.
It’s not just a question of behaving as though we’re running a hotel, though. We have to demand of ourselves that we deliver great service, but we also have to understand that this is a place charged with emotion: fear about a life-threatening condition, anxiety about a relative, joy that a baby has been born. People who come here are often vulnerable: they all need to be treated as individuals.
A hospital is a place like no other, and I truly believe that Addenbrooke’s is a hospital like no other. We are – quite rightly – famous for our clinical care. I want us to be just as well-known for the quality of our patients’ experience.
Dr Gareth Goodier
Chief Executive
Addenbrooke’s Hospital
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