Broadcaster Angela Rippon and former England footballer Geoff Thomas helped to raise awareness of the importance of dignity for patients at the recent Dignity and Essential Care Conference.

The conference, held at Birmingham City FC's St Andrews ground on Thursday 30 June, was organised by University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust's (UHB) Dignity in Care team.

Delegates heard how the dignity of patients is just as important as the clinical care they receive, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity or disability. This includes improving the patient experience of people who are:

• visually impaired
• hard of hearing
• suffer from dementia
• have learning difficulties.

Angela Rippon told delegates about her personal experience of dealing with her mother’s dementia, and how little understanding there can sometimes be about the condition among healthcare professionals.

She said more needed to be done to train new nurses to better understand the specific needs of dementia patients: “Nurses are trained to deal with medical conditions but are often not equipped to deal with the dementia problems.

“We need to remember to treat the person as well as the medical condition. It is so easy for dementia patients to be robbed of their dignity. We need to approach their care in a different way. Do that, and hospital care will be the better for it.

“The focus of this conference is so important. If we can get dignity right, then everything else falls into place.”

Geoff Thomas had a bone marrow transplant at UHB after being diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia in 2003.

His work to campaign and fundraise for blood cancer treatment – and the importance of his "patient experience" – was the focus of his talk at the event.

He said: “The nurses always treated me with dignity and respect, and they played a massive part in keeping me positive, by supporting and encouraging me.

“I also found it essential to have brutal honesty about my condition – I needed the facts and to be told everything that was going to happen so that there were no surprises.”

A series of workshops allowed delegates to discuss ways to improve dignity in care, along with presentations from Kay Fawcett, Executive Chief Nurse at UHB, and Dr Jacqueline Morris, Dignity Lead for the British Geriatric Society.

Squadron Leader Di Lamb, part of the military medical team based at UHB, presented a workshop on military trauma.

Delegates were encouraged to make pledges on practical ways they can improve patient dignity in their everyday working lives. These were placed on to a giant "pledge wall" at the conference.

Kay Fawcett said: “The conference was a huge success and gave all of us who attended an opportunity to share best practice and talk about our experiences. The workshops also gave us time to reflect on areas where we can improve.

“We have to make sure that our patients receive the best in care and are treated with respect. They deserve nothing less.”

Sign up to become a dignity champion

A dignity champion is someone who believes passionately that being treated with dignity is a basic human right, not an optional extra.

Dignity champions are willing to:

• stand up and challenge disrespectful behaviour
• act as role models by treating other people with respect 
• improve the way that services are organised and delivered 
• influence and inform colleagues 
• listen to and understand the views and experiences of patients

Each dignity champion’s role varies depending on their knowledge and influence and the type of work they are involved in. There are many small things that you can do that can have a big impact on people’s lives, as well as taking on a more active role if you have the time to do so.

Dignity champions include health and social care managers and frontline staff. They also include doctors, dietitians, porters, care workers in care homes, MPs, councillors, members of local action groups and Local Involvement Networks (LINks), and people from voluntary and advocacy organisations.

People who use care services, their relatives and carers as well as members of the public are also becoming dignity champions.

To find how to become a dignity champion at UHB, please email dignity@uhb.nhs.uk.