Kindness is Free

The title is a quote from a 2009 book by Tom Peters called ‘The Little Big Things’. He is talking about healthcare. He states that when we look at the quality issues that really matter to patients, the majority of them would come under the banner of kindness.

I was listening to the audio book in the car this morning and came across this section. It struck me that what Peters says is highly relevant to current events in the NHS.

Here in England we are in the midst of a witch-hunt and wringing of hands in the wake of the Francis Report into Mid Staffordshire Hospitals, and earlier this week we had the Keogh Review which identified 14 Trusts which have higher mortality rates than we would expect.

In the midst of all this is an unpleasant political row which is losing sight of the key issue. The real focus in all of this must surely be the patient and their families. Time and again we see care taking place in hospitals which lacks the basic value that Tom Peters highlights – kindness!

The current furore is turning into a witch-hunt, looking for people to blame. Instead of this, which just perpetuates a culture of bullying, it makes much more sense to look at how kindness as a value is embedded into a hospital from the Board to the bedside.

Bullying cultures within organisations do not nurture a culture of kindness. Just a quick comment this – but I thought it was worth posting to provide a counter-balance to the immense industry of recommendations and expectations that are being placed on the service in the wake of these two reports.