Meet the Matrons

We actively encourage patients, carers, and families to engage with your matron as a point of contact for when you want to talk about things that have gone well, and about any issues you may have spotted during your stay that could be improved.

We would encourage you in the first instance to discuss this on the ward when visiting or phoning, and ask to speak with the ward manager or matron – this helps to identify things early. However, if you rather have a dedicated time to talk to the matron, or you have reflected on your stay after leaving the hospital, we can help you do just that.

How #MeetTheMatron could be of help to you

If you feel that talking to a matron face to face (online at present) is for you, rather than communicating over email or the phone, please fill out the information form below which will help us put you in contact with the correct matron. Please detail as much of what you would like to discuss as you can. Things you might want to talk to your matron about:

• “I want to give praise or positive feedback for a recent stay” - this could be about an individual, a team, or a general comment about the service you received. We want to hear about this as much as possible. We also have our ‘Say Thank You’ scheme where our staff will receive a thank you card.
• “I noticed something that would be worth feeding back to the teams on the ward” – this could be when you see something that would have improved a part of your experience or helped you understand what was happening during your stay
• “I am not happy with something, I need to speak to somebody” – this could relate to a specific experience or something that is directly affecting your care in the hospital. Please tell us.

Things that our matron won’t be in a position to talk to you about, but you can raise with our PALS team, are:

• “I have a question about my appointment booking/I want to make changes to my appointment/I did not attend (DNA) my appointment”
• “I want to ask about updates to the waiting list I am on” – this could relate to the need to confirm that you are on a waiting list or understand how long it will take for you to receive treatment. Please refer to the contact details given in your correspondence from the hospital to identify the correct point of contact.
• “I have questions about my referral to treatment time” – this could relate to a referral performed by your GP or a specialist to another specialist service for treatment. Please contact the team who referred you in this instance.
• “I have questions about some community services” - some services that operate in the hospital do not belong to UHP such as those associated with Primary Care and Mental Health Services. Please ensure that you contact your GP or our community partners for these.
• General updates from the medical team – this can be arranged through your consultant’s secretary or, if you are currently admitted to hospital, through the nurse in charge in the Ward you are admitted to.

Why this is important

Our matrons want to continue to be at the forefront of improving the quality and experience of patients and families – learning from what works well and be able to intervene earlier when things aren’t going well to be able to resolve early concerns. Through your feedback (positive feedback is so important for the way our teams work and learn, we are not often good at asking for this!), our matrons are at the forefront of quality for ward-based communication. Thank you.