‘What matters to you?’ day is an annual celebration of putting people at the heart of their care or support. This year celebrations will be held on Thursday 6 June 2024.
What matters to you conversations help teams understand what is really important to each individual person. ‘What matters to you?’ is an opportunity to stop and think a little more about how we are listening, who we are listening too and what we are doing as a result. When people are involved in decisions about their health and care, it can greatly improve outcomes.
On the week leading up to WMTY Day, there will be the opportunity to join WMTY mini lunchtime seminars, on MS Teams, featuring both internal and external presenters. Further information about the seminars, presenters and how to join, will be available soon
Examples of WMTY conversations, between staff, patients, families and carers throughout NHSGGC, and the positive outcome they have had, will be shared via the Core Brief and our social media channels, please lookout for these. Previous WMTY case studies.
Throughout the week of What Matters to You? Day 2023, the Person Centred Health & Care team hosted a range of lunchtime seminars with guest speakers all about What Matters to You? conversations, why they are important and how they are included in working practices, across different contexts of care. Below you can find links to recordings of each of the seminars.
What Matters to You? An Overview
Maureen McDowall from Healthcare Improvement Scotland opened our week of lunchtime seminars on What Matters To You Day? 2023 to give an overview of what What Matters To You? really means.
Understanding & Supporting Unpaid Carers
Anticipatory Care Programme Manager, Jenny Watt led this lunchtime seminar on how best to understand and support unpaid carers.
Keep Being You at End of Life
Elaine O’Donnell and Sharon Lambie from Palliative Care led this seminar on the topic of “Keep Being You at End of Life”
How WMTY Can Help Us Achieve Value-Based Health & Care
Realistic Medicine Lead, Judith Marshall led this seminar on the topic of “How WMTY Can Help Us Achieve Value-Based Health & Care.
Getting to Know You
Christine Steel, AHP Consultant for Dementia, led this seminar of the topic of the “Getting to Know You” document.
Anticipatory Care Planning
Jenny Watt, Anticipatory Care Programme Manager, led this seminar on Anticipatory Care Planning- Helping Everyone Know What is Important.
Why Conversations About What Matters, Really Matter
Jen Rodgers, Deputy Nurse Director, and Shaun Maher, Strategic Advisor for Person Centred Care and Improvement, closed WMTY Week 2023 with this seminar on why WMTY conversations really matter.
If you have any further questions on the topics in these recordings, please contact the Person Centred Health & Care team at person.centred@ggc.scot.nhs.uk
2022
Jen’s story – Leverndale Hospital
Jen tells us how she worked with Jenn, the Patient Activity Coordinator in Leverndale Hospital, to coproduce a leaflet after sharing her experience of isolating in hospital due to COVID:
Lillian’s story – Hunterhill Care Home
Maria talks to us about the difference made to Lillian’s quality of care, after involving the people who mattered to her:
Jen Rodgers’ Top Tips for WMTY conversations
Jen Rodgers, Deputy Nurse Director – Corporate and Community, explains more about What Matters To You day, and shares her top tips for having WMTY conversations, based on years of talking to people about what matters to them:
Marisa’s story – Royal Hospital for Children
Marisa talks about why it is important to have meaningful conversations with everyone – those receiving care, their families, and staff:
Jen tells us how she worked with Jenn, the Patient Activity Coordinator in Leverndale Hospital, to coproduce a leaflet after sharing her experience of isolating in hospital due to COVID:
Lillian’s story – Hunterhill Care Home
Maria talks to us about the difference made to Lillian’s quality of care, after involving the people who mattered to her:
Jen Rodgers’ Top Tips for WMTY conversations
Jen Rodgers, Deputy Nurse Director – Corporate and Community, explains more about What Matters To You day, and shares her top tips for having WMTY conversations, based on years of talking to people about what matters to them:
Marisa’s story – Royal Hospital for Children
Marisa talks about why it is important to have meaningful conversations with everyone – those receiving care, their families, and staff:
“Small conversations every day create the biggest change in every way #WMTY23”
The International ‘What Matters To You Day’ (WMTY) was hosted on Tuesday 6th June 2023. Within NHSGGC our aim is to promote the importance of having a WMTY conversation every day.
Asking “What matters to you?” is about listening and understanding what really matters to people, including, patients, residents, service users, family members and colleagues. WMTY conversations empower people to be involved in decisions about their own health and care, greatly improving their outcomes.
Throughout the week of WMTY Day, 5th – 9th June 2023, the Person Centred Health & Care Team shared case studies of WMTY conversations, with the aim of celebrating and encouraging meaningful conversations between those providing care and the people/families who receive it. These conversations help identify what is important to people and create a meaningful partnership with them, allowing them to be involved in decisions about their health and care which can greatly improve their wellbeing and outcomes.
In the below recordings, you will hear from a range of people in their experience of a WMTY conversation from different services across NHSGGC.
Emma’s Story
In our first film, Emma shares her experience of a WMTY conversation, how it made her feel and the impact it had on her care whilst she was in hospital. By asking this simple yet effective question, Emma felt listened to and empowered, whilst she was a patient at the QEUH, highlighting just how important it is to have what matters to people at the heart of person-centred care.
Kirsty’s Film
Kirsty shares her experience of a particular WMTY conversation with a patient, in ward 2 of Glasgow Royal Infirmary, which stood out to her and helped Kirsty to tailor the patient’s care to better support her needs and help her achieve her goals. Kirsty tells us how this conversation shaped her understanding of WMTY conversations and the benefits of asking each patient what matters to them.
Jan’s Story
In this video, we hear from Jan, who is a full-time carer for her husband, and Jenny, Anticipatory Care Programme Manager. In sharing their experiences, they highlight how important it is to have WMTY conversations, not only people being cared for, but also for the people caring for them.
Kathleen’s Story
In this video, Kathleen, a patient at the Royal Alexandra Hospital diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome, 13 days before her wedding shares her experience of a WMTY conversation she had; how the staff caring for her took her needs and wishes into account when creating her treatment plan, and just how powerful a WMTY conversation can be. The team at the RAH share with us how they rallied behind her, championed her and empowered her to overcome the barriers she was facing and supported her to meet her goal of walking down the aisle on her wedding day.
Tauseeb’s Story
In this video, we hear Tauseeb’s story. Tauseeb is profoundly deaf and his experience of a WMTY conversation happened when his son was diagnosed with cancer at the Royal Hospital for Children, an overwhelming time for Tauseeb and his family. Tauseeb shares with us the impact the WMTY conversation with his son’s medical team had, the actions they took to ensure they could fully communicate with him, inform him of his son’s treatment plans and enable him to ask any questions, effectively removing any communication barriers he had previously faced.
There are a number of benefits of a pre-noon discharge.
For patients being discharged:
You don’t need to wait around any longer than necessary
It’s better for your health – particularity if you are older
You can make use of our discharge lounges (where available) while you wait
You get home to a more comfortable environment.
For other patients:
The earlier we can free up a bed, the quicker we can treat new patients. Each early discharge means four more patients will benefit
An Acute Medical Unit (AMU) patient can be moved up to the ward for specialist care
An A&E patient can move into our AMUs for a rapid medical assessment
An ambulance patient waiting in an ambulance can be transferred to the A&E for appropriate emergency care
An ambulance is freed up to respond to another patient in the community, faster.
What do I need to do?
Ask your nurse when you’re expected date of discharge is.
Get your ducks in a row
When you know your date of discharge, you should try to make sure arrangements are in place to get you home from hospital before noon on the day if possible.
Is someone coming to collect you? Do they know they can collect you early on?
Do they know you could be in the discharge lounge and how to get there?
Do you have appropriate clothing?
Do you have access to your home?
Have you got the basics back home?
If you have any questions about your day of discharge, either as a patient or as a carer, you should always speak to someone on the ward in the first instance.
You can access ward contact numbers across our hospitals here.
Information on our discharge lounges
NHSGGC currently has discharge lounges available at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow Royal Infirmary and Royal Alexandra Hospital.
These areas provide a safe and comfortable space for patients ready to go home. Fully staffed and made easily accessible so patients can be picked up by carers or organised transport, you can contact the discharge lounges below:
We want to ask, listen and do what matters to people every day.
On or around the 6th June each year, we have an extra focus on raising awareness and encouraging these sorts of conversations between people who receive care, the people who matter most to them, and staff. This is ‘What matters to You?’ (WMTY) Day.
This has now become an international movement with many countries around the world participating. Asking WMTY is easy and involves three simple steps:
Ask What Matters;
Listen to What Matters;
Do What Matters.
Information for people receiving care and their families
WMTY is all about encouraging more meaningful conversations between people.
To help you get the best possible outcome, we need to understand the things that are really important to you. This could be something very specific or something more general. Here are some examples of the types of things people have talked about:
“It’s really important that my granddaughter is involved in discussions about my support. She is the main person in my life!”
“I can’t focus on my therapy because I’m so worried about who is looking after my mum while I’m in hospital”
There is no wrong answer to this question – it’s all about what is most important to you.
We want to know what matters most to you, so we can provide care that works for you. You can:
This person centred approach can help in a number of ways. First and foremost it can help to establish a relationship, but it also helps you to understand more about the person and the things that are most important to them. With this insight you will be in a better place to work with them to find the best way forward.
This video from Healthcare Improvement Scotland explains more about the WMTY approach:
The Person Centred Health and Care Team speak to people currently receiving care about their experience of care.
Each month we support clinical teams to look at what people receiving care are telling them, to design improvement plans to take forward ideas and suggestions to improve care.
This is the real-time Care Experience Improvement Model. You can find further information about the model from Healthcare Improvement Scotland.
