Case histories in the NHS

Buckinghamshire Hospitals: Patient-led strategy and management

• By putting five promises to patients at the heart of strategy, the whole organisation pulls in the same direction to drive up quality of the patient experience, pathway and outcomes

• “April’s innovative patient engagement approach helped us to develop five promises to patients which form the bedrock of our strategy, our business planning, and our customer experience. April have been creative and practical, inspiring and committed. They make a refreshing change.”

Anne Eden, Chief Executive, Buckinghamshire Hospitals NHS Trust

Buckinghamshire Hospitals: Customer service standards

• Practical customer service standards to create a culture of courtesy, communication and compassion, every patient, every day

•April have been inspiring and practical in equal measure. By focusing on changing and measuring everyday behaviours not vague values, it’s an approach staff at every level can engage with, and that makes a real difference for our patients.”

Sarah Watson-Fisher, Chief Nurse and Director of Patient Care Standards, Buckinghamshire Hospitals NHS Trust.

NHS Leicester City: Strategy for World Class Commissioning

• Involving patients, public, staff, partners and other stakeholders to develop vision, values and strategic goals to underpin NHS Leicester City's World Class Commissioning accreditation

• “With April, strategy starts at the heart of the community, not in the boardroom. That they were able to build such a deep understanding of the specific cultural and health issues we face in Leicester in such a short time, was down to the extraordinary breadth of their patient and staff engagement programme. Their focus, passion and energy are obviously infectious.”

Daxa Patel, Non-Executive Director, NHS Leicester City

South Essex Partnership Trust: Customer experience strategy

• Developing a service culture that empowers staff of leading mental healthcare trust to be truly in tune with individuals, with an optimistic recovery mindset, and consistent customer service standards

• “April Strategy helped us to radically rethink our approach to customer service and to up our game in a world of increasing choice and competition. It was clever stuff, a paradigm shift, good value and a practical, lasting way forward. Our customers now say they can’t believe we are the NHS.”

Patrick Geoghegan OBE, Chief Executive, South Essex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust