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Author Archives | Kara Skehan

Kara Skehan

Front-line friend to primary care. Champion of common sense and ‘reyt’ simple words. Kara is a healthcare marketing specialist from Sheffield and working UK-wide.

Looking beneath the negative patient comments

November 26, 2021, by in Patients, Social Media 1 Comment

African american person holding a tactile mobile smartphone sending text messages emoji emoticon - Black people

Six months ago, a practice manager called me in tears. “Our Facebook page is awash with hateful comments from patients,” she said. I’m paraphrasing and deleting some of the expletives here. I looked. It was. Some comments were downright dreadful, despite the practice doing all the right things – i.e., posting regularly and giving updates…

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What we really wish we could say to patients…

Emotion with young man doctor being exhausted and holding hands on head.

I went for a face-to-face appointment at my GP surgery last week. Mask safely covering the huge zit that had developed on my chin – check. For once, though, I wasn’t there in an official or a work capacity, but as a patient. Yet, as I sat in the silent and sombre waiting room, my…

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Breaking the monotony with marketing

marketing

Tired of lockdown and all things COVID? Yeah, me too. During the first lockdown, everyone was baking bread, cleaning out their garages and doing daily workout videos, and bragging about it on Facebook. This wasn’t for general practice though. In the latest lockdown, it’s been freezing cold and the kids have been eating you out…

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Healthcare marketing during and after coronavirus – Reasons to be cheerful

Drawing colouful rainbow with cotton wool on white paper in the window on sunny day morning. Home schooling, Stay at home Social media campaign for coronavirus prevention concept

World War Z. 28 Days Later. Mad Max. They ALL got it wrong when it comes to the currency of the apocalypse. It won’t be weapons, food or Guzzolene that people kill for. It’ll be bog roll and packet pasta. But, practice manager, when this is all over (and it WILL be over), medical marketing…

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“Dear Father Christmas” – A wish list from a practice manager (and a reply from a marketing-savvy Santa!)

December 17, 2019, by in Funny 2 Comments

Person taking notes with Christmas ideas in her textbook

Dear Santa, No word of a lie, the entire team at our surgery have been REALLY good ALL year through. So good, in fact, that our patients are really happy with us (83.8% of patients describe their overall GP experience as ‘good’). So, it’s safe to say that we’re on your ‘nice list’ and definitely in…

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Seven ways to write more ‘accessibly’ on your practice website

September 26, 2019, by in Accessibility, Websites 0 Comments

Seven ways to write more 'accessibly' on your practice website

“Tracheotomy,” “dysphagia,”, “cervical cytology”. Safe to say that this medical world of ours is FILLED with jargon. Medical words and terms, of course, have their place. But our familiarity with this world can also mean that med-jargon often leaks into patient comms – on websites, in leaflets and on display for all to see. Today…

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Practice manager, we need to talk ‘change’!

practice manager we need to talk change

Change is a constant in this frantically fast-paced world of the NHS. (That’s the understatement of the week, Kara!) So, by now, you’ll no doubt have started to enjoy the lighter evenings, sipping wine and reading the NHS Long Term Plan and Network Contract DES from cover to cover… Hmmm…. You know as well as…

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