Inspiring healthcare

What is the meaning of "CAREFUL"?

What does it mean to provide great care? How do we ensure that patients' interests are best served by our hospitals and clinics? How do we protect the goodwill of the staff that work in them?

These are some of the questions that we are trying to address by creating CAREFUL organisations.

Answering these questions is not straightforward, but in doing so we take this position:

Caring for patients means caring for staff

This is not mere sentimentality. It is a hard-nosed view of what is best for our patients. Better care doesn't just mean a better experience for patients, important though that is. It also means better outcomes, fewer falls, fewer infections and fewer clinical incidents. It also means improved efficiency, reduced length of stay, less cost and less waste.

It also means less staff turnover and sickness - in short, a happier place to work.

The Meaning of Careful started out as a book with a positive message which stems from the conviction that we can create better care for both patients and staff. The book explains in straightforward terms how you, as a healthcare leader, can make that a reality.

The book has now been transformed into a leadership seminar, a team development programme, a development programme for governors and non-execs as well as a comprehensive cultural change programme across an organisation.

Through these, we are together exploring what CAREFUL means.

We hope you will join us.