Leading the way with social media in healthcare
We’re pleased to announce that our Communications team at Berkshire Healthcare have won The Middle Aisle Award at the CommsHERO awards.
The Middle Aisle award recognises how we’ve used social media to share patient stories, and offer a compassionate approach to sensitive topics, breaking down barriers and providing help for those affected by issues such as miscarriage, HIV and post-natal depression. The impact of our TikTok page has been profound for Berkshire Healthcare. We're able to use it in a way to educate and help the public, posting about various topics.
Our communications team was also nominated for two other awards. The first was for the Health Tech ‘Best use of digital for NHS Trusts’ award. This category celebrates organisations that effectively use digital platforms to engage with the public. We were recognised for our strategic use of TikTok, a platform that has allowed us to reach younger, and traditionally harder-to-reach audiences. By creating and delivering content in a way that resonates with this demographic, we’re able to increase awareness of health information and services.
Our second nomination came from the Orlo Golden Ele Awards for the ’Community Impact’ award which has recognised the way in which we’ve promoted the vital work of our Health Bus through the use of Nextdoor. We’ve been able to provide residents with health information and opportunities to directly access our services.
Across our profiles on Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and most recently TikTok, our goal has always been to make our messaging useful and engaging, ensuring that important health information captures the attention of the public. Our recent Stoptober TikTok has even gone viral, reaching nearly 2 million people and demonstrating the power of social media in the way we communicate.
Cathy Saunders, our Director of Communications, expressed her pride about winning the award, stating:
“Over the last few years we’ve transformed our social media approach and the results are now starting to speak for themselves. Whilst it’s great to be recognised in these sector-leading awards, the most important thing is that we’re now able to reach and have a positive impact on wider audiences, including those who sometimes may struggle to access healthcare.”
Our social media manager, Holly Felstead, spoke to Rebecca Paddick about TikTok within the NHS on a Tech to Transform podcast which you can listen to.
Listen to the podcast on Can TikTok help the NHS reach new heights? (new browser tab)