Every year, millions of letters are sent out to people in Norfolk by post or email with information about their health and care.
But how understandable are they, and are they clear, concise, and informative?
Healthwatch Norfolk is keen to find out and is looking for examples of what it calls ‘Mail Fail.’
What is the campaign?
The organisation, which gathers feedback about people’s experiences, wants to find examples of both good and bad practice around communication.
It is encouraging people to share examples of badly written letters and emails so it can put together a set of guidelines to help ensure that patients get the best information possible.
People will be encouraged to send through examples of communication they have received which they do not understand, while disguising any personal information.
You can find out more and how to submit examples here.
Alex Stewart, chief executive of Healthwatch Norfolk, said: “We decided to take a look at this after receiving feedback saying people often get letters which they do not understand.
“If people have a medical appointment, they are already going to be worried. If they are either having to decipher a letter or contact someone for clarification, it just adds to the worry.
“Equally, we know there is some good practice too where departments are working hard to make sure their letters are clear, and we are keen to see examples of them too.”
The team at Healthwatch Norfolk will then compile a report based on the feedback highlighting some of the main errors and also make suggestions around how patients could be communicated with more effectively.
People who submit information will also be asked to make their own suggestions about how they wish to be communicated with.
“We know the NHS locally, regionally, and nationally is a big organisation but that is no excuse for people to not have clear and understandable language in their communications. Medical jargon and confusing information have no place in modern-day communication and patients tell us that can be confusing and unhelpful,” said Mr Stewart.
You can see more about it in the video below
There is a subtitled version of the video below
