The Enormous Power Of A Pat On The Back And Behaving Like A Korean Traffic Light

I am pleased to tell you that The Medical Chambers Kensington frequently receives compliments such as professional, welcoming, safe, calm, impressive, very clean and so on.  Mainly about our environment and very welcome, but we recently received two compliments about our people which had a very positive effect on all of us.

The first was short and said "All of you inspire confidence". Well we were delighted with that, but the next one had a dramatic impact.  So much so that Alicia Johnson in our Admin + Reception Team telephoned one of our Directors to say "Have you got a moment? I'd like to read you something Ms Coralie Norman, a patient, said in a "How Was Our Service?" survey." The pleasure in her voice said it all. Here it is verbatim.

 "The staff at TMCK are exceptional. Whether it be the calm and reassuring Receptionists or the Cleaners, they all seem to really care and take their service to their patients with the utmost importance. I would recommend TMCK to anyone".

I can't adequately describe the effect that comments like this have on our Team. Running The Medical Chambers Kensington is simultaneously challenging and rewarding. We have discussed it many times. We think that it's a cocktail of sometimes unwell or stressed or worried patients, frequently very demanding Doctors and Clinicians and rigorous regulation by the Care Quality Commission, the Government regulator.

Our aim is to provide superb medical care with what we internally call enlightened hospitality. Many Clinics and hospitals pay lip service to this description but we train to deliver it and most of the time we get it right.

So, for example, we train to manage patient expectations. Every member of our team is encouraged to liken himself/herself to a Korean traffic light. For those of you that haven't seen a Korean traffic light it has lit segments around the outside of the light which count down...so the driver and pedestrian know how long before the light changes.

A patient who knows that their Doctor is running late, as they sometimes do, and knows what to expect is a less stressed patient. Plus we can offer him or her a coffee, tea, or just a glass of water. Simple things, but when put together with our Team's care and kindness go some way towards enhancing the patient experience.

So thank you Coralie Norman and Korean traffic lights.