NHS Direct engages with people via Twitter
NHS Direct, along with other NHS organisations, is increasingly using Twitter to share information about the Trust and its services, as well as building relationships with patients and stakeholders.
NHS Direct recently featured in the Guardian's article about the NHS's use of Twitter.
Roger Donald, NHS Direct’s Head of Digital Delivery explains why we have started tweeting: “We knew there were conversations about NHS Direct on Twitter and felt it was much better to engage with people who are talking about us than to ignore them.
“Twitter is an easy way for people to give feedback about our services. We can engage with our critics to resolve problems and correct factual inaccuracies and say thank you to satisfied patients for taking the time to share their positive experiences of using NHS Direct.”
We have already seen how successful tweeting can be to promote new services. For example, a tweet about our online health and symptom checker for mental health issues was re-tweeted 49 times, potentially exposing our message to over 32,000 people.
NHS Direct doesn’t engage in any clinical conversations on Twitter or other social media channels. We refer anyone asking clinical questions to the relevant advice on our own website, NHS Choices and other approved websites.
Social media is changing all the time. We will monitor how Twitter evolves and explore new ways of using it to enhance the patient experience. Any new services would be developed in conjunction with patients and clinicians to ensure that they are safe and fit for purpose.
If your organisation is considering using Twitter and you would like to speak to us about our experiences of using this channel, please email roger.donald@nhsdirect.nhs.uk.
You can follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/nhsdirect.
