The man whose late wife’s experience at the heart of a worldwide campaign to encourage compassionate care of patients in healthcare settings has visited Prospect Hospice in Wroughton to offer his encouragement to staff there for their commitment to his cause.

Chris Pointon and his late wife Dr Kate Granger founded their #hellomynameis campaign to encourage a more personalised, compassionate care than that which she experienced following her cancer diagnosis in 2010. This experience led to their decision to launch a campaign that saw Kate speak at events around the world and a viral social media phenomenon which was supported by public figures including Kylie Minogue, Jeremy Clarkson, Sir Richard Branson and the two most recent prime ministers, David Cameron and Theresa May.

After Kate died in 2016, Chris committed to continuing the work that the two had begun and is continuing to spread the message of encouraging healthcare professionals and others to bring a more compassionate approach to their work – sometimes even by just committing to introducing themselves at the outset by their name, as the campaign’s name suggests.

“The campaign began in 2014 after a hospital admission my wife had, when there was a distinct lack of introductions from the doctors who were caring for her,” said Chris Pointon. “We decided that evening that we could do something about it, and we started the #hellomynameis campaign.

“To date the campaign has had around 1.9 billion impressions on Twitter, it’s been seen in many countries on every continent, and it’s making a real difference, not just in hospitals and healthcare, but in businesses, universities lots of different settings. Introducing yourself is just a small thing but it makes such a difference to people, as the campaign has demonstrated.”

Chris was invited to Prospect Hospice to share his experience and to recognise the charity’s embracing of the campaign. “The purpose of my coming here today was to talk to the amazing team here at Prospect Hospice, to discuss with them the subject of compassionate care, which informs every action, every second of every day within the hospice movement. It was also to spread the word about the campaign Kate and I started. Kate’s final days were in a hospice in Yorkshire where she had amazing care, and it’s spreading the word about care to people like the team here, who make an amazing difference in people’s lives.”

Prospect Hospice’s Director of Patient Services Clare Robinson added: “It has been a privilege to welcome Chris here today and I know that the staff who were able to hear him speak about his experience with the campaign and also the story of his life with Kate will have been both moved and impressed by his talk. Compassionate care is central to what we offer at Prospect Hospice but I think it’s extremely valuable to hear of the difference it makes to people. Chris is an inspiring speaker and we would like to wish him all the very best for his campaign in future.”

To find out more about Chris Pointon’s campaign visit www.hellomynameis.org.uk