NHS patient care starts with caring for colleagues

South Wales Argus

14 hours ago

That is why we need to talk honestly about something that doesn't often make the headlines: culture.
Behind every decision, diagnosis, or delay, there are human beings, both patients and staff, doing their best in a system under strain. But when the workplace culture is poor, fearful, rushed, dismissive, that strain becomes something more dangerous.
It becomes unsafe.
Maria's Movement is a stark example. In the final chapter of her life, Maria didn't receive the care she needed. Her family's concerns were brushed aside. Consultants assumed they knew best. And the staff around her, though well-intentioned, were afraid to speak up or challenge decisions.
It wasn't a lack of skill or kindness. It was the culture.
Culture isn't a buzzword. It is the invisible thread that shapes how people behave when the pressure is on. It's whether staff feel safe to speak up. Whether people are listened to. Whether the patient and their family feel like they matter.
And when that thread unravels, care suffers.
When NHS staff feel respected, supported and able to raise concerns, patients get better care. When staff are burnt out, fearful, or ignored, the risk of harm rises, and so does the heartbreak.
I began my NHS career more than 30 years ago in South Wales. I wasn't clinical, I worked in admin, but even then, there was an unspoken standard: you care for every patient like they are a member of your family. You felt it in the way teams treated each other, in the pride they took in their work. That spirit shaped everything.
Today, we need to bring that spirit back not just through posters or pledges, but by changing the conditions staff work in. That means creating real psychological safety. Listening with humility. And treating staff wellbeing as essential to patient safety, not an optional extra.
When we care better for our staff, staff care better for our patients. It really is that simple.
We're living through a time of huge change in the NHS. But no matter how much the system evolves, one thing must stay the same: people deserve to be treated with dignity, compassion, and respect on both sides of the bed.
The culture of our healthcare system isn't a background issue. It is the care. And when we get that right, we all feel the difference.
Liza Collins, MA, FRSA, is Future of Healthcare Executive Leadership Coach and NHS Leadership Academy Executive Coach.