Every member of staff in the NHS is being targeted under a national campaign involving 1.3m information booklets, the Connecting for Health programme announced on 19 September 2005.
The campaign, involving a booklet, film and posters, focuses on the Care Record Service (CRS), which is due to go live next year. Strategic health authorities and trusts across England are to be responsible for distributing the information to NHS organisations and employees. James Herbert, director of communications and stakeholder engagement for the programme outlined the scale of the campaign, which is being run by external agency Porter Novelli.
"Communicating with every member of the NHS in England is a complex task, which is why we are working in partnership with NHS organisations to reach staff no matter where they work or what they do.
"We are working hand in hand with NHS bodies and this marks the first step in an extensive information campaign which will ensure that both the NHS and the public are fully aware of the far reaching ramifications of the NHS Care Records Service."
A 12 page booklet and poster give an overview of how the programme will work and its impact on various aspects of healthcare. The film promotes the benefits of electronic care records and covers some of the areas in which the service will be deployed.
The second stage of the campaign will begin in early 2006 and will involve a more detailed information pack promoting care records to specific groups such as GPs, hospital doctors, clerical workers and nurses. After this phase of the campaign, the programme will start a wider promotion designed to reach everyone living in England. Connecting for Health would not reveal the cost of the campaign but said that it is expected to be a "substantial six figure sum."
Individual trusts are tasked with deciding the best way to disseminate the promotional material to their staff.
"It is essential that we have the support of the NHS, which is why we are working closely with NHS bodies to reach staff," said Herbert. "This approach has the backing of all NHS senior executives. With the NHS CRS due to start going live in 2006, now is the right time to start letting people know what to expect via the local network of healthcare organisations."
Quelle: KableNET , 19.09.2005
