HOSPITAL workers in York and North Yorkshire have signed up to a national campaign to ensure they introduce themselves to patients.

The “Hello, my name is...” campaign was started by Dr Kate Granger, 31, an NHS consultant, who noticed many staff did not introduce themselves as she was undergoing cancer treatment.

Using the Twitter hashtag #hellomynameis, she called for health workers to introduce themselves, launching a campaign which is now being backed by around 90 NHS organisations, including York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. The York trust has asked staff, from nurses, to healthcare assistants, to porters and consultants, to ensure they wear clear name badges, introduce themselves and ask the patient their preferred name.

Emma Day, assistant director of nursing at the York Trust, said: “We need patients to know we are looking after them so they can develop that immediate connection. It will make the patient feel more secure and valued.

“I want it to happen with every interaction, for everybody who comes into contact with patients.”

The hospital committed to the campaign last year and has this week stepped up the drive along with other NHS organisations.

Dr Granger, who works for Mid Yorkshire Hospitals, has written about the campaign: “I firmly believe it is not just about knowing someone’s name, but it runs much deeper.

“It is about making a human connection, beginning a therapeutic relationship and building trust.

“In my mind it is the first rung on the ladder to providing compassionate care.

“I really hope my legacy will be putting compassionate practice right at the heart of healthcare delivery every single day.”

Dr Granger was diagnosed with cancer during a holiday to the United States in 2011.

But it was only after her return to Yorkshire and after the cancer had spread in her body that it was properly diagnosed as a rare type of sarcoma, which attacks the tissue supporting internal organs.

Dr Granger has been treated with debilitating palliative chemotherapy and was due to start her latest round of treatment yesterday.

Some 400,000 doctors, nurses, therapists, receptionists and porters across 90 organisations are now backing the drive.

Dr Granger told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “The lack of introductions really made me feel like just a diseased body, not a person. When somebody did introduce themselves it just made a massive difference to how I felt.

“There is evidence out there that it actually improves patient outcomes, that if you have a good relationship with your healthcare staff you are more likely to trust them, you are more likely to share intimate information.”