How to make the NHS more social media friendly

Last month MHAdegree.org made a list of the “Top 50 Most Social Media Friendly Hospitals for 2013” in the United States. They did this by gathering social media stats using the number of followers on their respective platforms and the amount of activity on each platform to calculate a score. The Mayo Clinic based in Rochester, Minnesota, was ranked top overall and had platforms not just in “Twitter” and “Facebook” but also in “Pinterest and “Flickr”. They used those platforms to communicate health tips to the public through the medium of photos and images allowing the public to “pin” and save their favourite tips.

If such a list were to be created for NHS Trusts, what would it look like? How would NHS Trusts compare with their counterparts across the pond?

Within the NHS Trust landscape, such image platforms such as Pinterest are used sparingly though there are some good examples. Twitter is  fast growing as the defacto platform for social media engagement with the public.  So what if a Trust/ CCG/Healthwatch wished to expand their platforms beyond Twitter?  How do you pioneer your platform for better engagement, participation and relationship building?

Here are some tips as to how you can plan your engagement using social media :

• “Content + Images is King” – Create a content calendar to help loosely create some themes for your Trust to map against NHS events or local events in your area so that your content can engage with the public. Within every NHS organisation there is a wealth of content related to health which can be used to inform the public about health issues they might be facing. Use RSS feeds to bring all your online content into one place such as Feedly and The Old Reader. Matching this with attractive and meaningful images helps a reader decide to read the content within. For example, tweets containing images are almost twice as likely to be retweeted.

• Reach out to others – Plant the seed of engagement by just talking to people and sharing things that you believe will resonate with your target audience.  Do your research as over time, practice will help you pick out what to “retweet” and share, use your RSS feed when doing so. Be yourself, let your organisation have a personality and make a good impression with your audience.

• “Engagement is an on- going relationship” –  With social media you are able to create a bridge of communication with the public that is always open.  The beauty of the digital age is that you can always connect even when not in the office, use tools such as Hootsuite, Tweetdeck or Buffer to  time delay your messages so that even at night or on the weekend you can engage with the public. These are also available as apps on smartphones.

• Get the right tools – Worried that too many platforms might make things difficult to keep track of? Use the tools such as Swayy, Prismatic or Flipboard to help find and surface content worth reading and then use Hootsuite and others to push out posts all at one go saving time and effort. Your tools can help you decide not only what there is to know but what is worth knowing. Other interview tools such as Audioboo which is used by Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust , is an app which allows quick and instant upload of audio recordings for posting into the digital world.

• Reciprocate – Another important part of social media engagement is ensuring that you follow up or respond to any “like”, “follow” or “Pin” and make it a routine thing to do. Such good practices will lead to more individuals keen to follow suit and help spread your reach further.

In 2012, the ONS reported that 33 million adults accessed the internet every day, with 87% of 16-24 years olds and 48% of adults on social networking sites. Such figures will increase with the advent of new technology, NHS Organisations should widen their digital footprint to reach greater numbers. In this digital age where information is power, getting involved in social media platforms can add value.

To find out how, click on the image below take you to our interactive guide to read and link through to examples of how differing platforms can be used to help your Social Media engagement.

If you have an example of good social media practice within the NHS, share it with #NHSsocial and with @MESsocial. 

James is a Business Development Officer at Membership Engagement Services.

He can be contacted here or via  MES’s Linkedin company page here.