NURSES and doctors at a Worcester hospital have been asked to smile more and treat people as they would expect to be treated.

NHS bosses are attempting to improve the patient experience at the Worcestershire Royal Hospital, Worcester, by improving the attitudes of staff to patients and each other.

Nick Fawcett, of Impact Innovation – an innovation agency, gave a presentation to NHS leaders at a meeting at the Alexandra Hospital, Redditch, in response to Department of Health demands that every patient should have a positive experience of care.

The scheme, called Active Caring for Everyone (ACE), is funded by the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Locality Board which is linked to the Strategic Health Authority, the regional arm of the Government.

As part of the scheme, members of staff at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals would carry an ACE card which they could show to colleagues if they believed that the care they were delivering fell below acceptable standards using the phrase ‘you didn’t play your ACE card.’ Mr Fawcett said the scheme had identified the importance of NHS staff being professional, compassionate, alert and courteous, which can include smiling.

“We’re not talking about an American, cheesy, have a nice day kind of smile. It’s about common courtesy,” he said.

“We really need to emphasise how important that is because it makes such a big difference.

“This is about treating everyone as an individual whether you’re a patient or a member of staff. It’s treating people how you would like to be treated.”

Helen Blanchard, director of nursing and midwifery at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “What patients have told us is that they don’t always have a good customer experience. Patients may say their treatment was fantastic, but staff could have been more professional in their approach. They could have smiled more. Communication could have been better. We do it well, but there are some people who need to do it better. It’s not that nobody smiles.”

Impact Innovation is also working at the University of Worcester with trainee nurses so they are ACE on their first day at work, Mr Fawcett said.

Rani Virk, lead nurse for quality and patient experience, said she hoped 3,000 staff will have taken part in ACE workshops by the end of 2012/13. The trust has invested £10,000 in the scheme.

Since last November, 243 staff have taken part in the ACE training.