19 October 2026

Our director of communications, Ross Wigham, on connecting with our communities at the NHS' busiest time - winter

Two people holding a selfie frame promoting vaccinations.

As we head into winter, the busiest time for the NHS, communicating with our patients, partners and local communities becomes more important than ever.

People are hugely interested in local NHS services and that is highlighted by some the figures we see, for example in the past 12 months we have been in the media 1,700 times and our social media channels had more than 12,376,831 impressions​ - that's like filling St James' Park more than 230 times over​.

We know the health system can be complicated and at times difficult to understand which is why we make a real commitment to communicating clearly to everyone we serve.

Of course, we don’t always get this right, and part of good communications is listening carefully when we miss the mark, so please do get in touch if you think there are areas where we can do things differently.

Simplicity can sometimes be difficult to achieve, especially around complex services or pathways, but this has been a real area of focus for us this year. We want everyone to have the right information for their needs in a way that’s simple to understand.

We have recently updated our online winter communications to help people understand the best place to go for their care. Using the right service, first time often helps people get what they need more quickly.

We are also sharing important messages and updates with our staff as we go into winter so they can look after themselves and provide the best care to patients. So far, this has included a major push on flu vaccinations.

We know the things that most people want to know are around access to services, keeping waiting times low, the quality of care they will receive and how they can stay healthy in the future.

That’s why we have focused time on creating videos that are easy for people to watch and understand. Our online library is packed with videos that help people understand various medical conditions and guides on what they should do if they need to access help.

While these online videos have had more than 250,000 views this year, we are also focused on the real, face-to-face engagement with our communities. Over the past year we’ve supported more than 16 events that help us communicate with local people and hear what they have to say.

As well as this our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) meets or speaks on the phone with hundreds of people every month to provide support and hear their feedback.

As a big employer of almost 12,000 staff, we have recently launched a new recruitment website to help us attract the best candidates and created a load of different content that shows real-life examples from some of the many roles we offer.

We also support our Bright Charity in communicating their vital work in improving things right here in the North East through their amazing fundraising and work connecting the public with our staff.

Lastly, we were proud to gain some national recognition for our commitment to communications and engagement after receiving the communications management standard from the PRCA, the only NHS organisation to do so.

Here are a few links that might be interesting:

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