Ministerial visit highlights efforts to enhance empathy in healthcare led by the University of Leicester

The Minister for Patient Safety, Women’s Health and Mental Health, has spent a morning speaking to University experts about how empathy can help reduce health outcome disparities by ethnic groups. 

Baroness Gillian Merron, who sits in the House of Lords, met experts from the Stoneygate Centre for Empathic Healthcare to discuss their efforts to ensure empathy is at the heart of all care.

In addition, they highlighted the Centre’s recent collaboration with the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust to build on its culture of empathy within maternity services through training and leadership workshops delivered by centre experts to midwifery staff across the trust. These workshops have been evaluated and shown to be effective in improving teamwork, patient satisfaction, patient safety, and understanding of patients from different ethnic backgrounds.

During the visit, the Minister heard from those who have taken part in recent training to understand how it had improved care and communication, as well as patients about their hospital experiences.

Stoneygate Centre Director Professor Jeremy Howick said: “We know, through our extensive research, that empathy improves people’s experiences of healthcare, including midwifery where not only is the patient’s care vital, but that of their unborn child and good communication is essential. Having the right tools to ensure this happens equitably for all mothers and babies, irrespective of ethnic background, is what we provide through enhanced training for practitioners and students.  

“It’s more than simply having a good bedside manner, it’s about truly listening, empathising with patients and acting upon this to deliver high-quality care.”

NHS England’s three-year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services, launched in 2023, sets out how the NHS will make maternity and neonatal care safer, more personalised and more equitable for women, babies and families. It followed recommendations from several inquiries such as East Kent (2022) and Ockenden (Shrewsbury and Telford, 2022).

Among the priorities is listening to and working with women and families with compassion, growing the maternity workforce, and developing a culture of safety. 

Professor Howick added: “Evidence supports the idea that more empathy in hospitals and clinics – commonly taken to involve understanding and taking action, would reduce patient complaints and medical errors. 

“Clinical trials show that if healthcare professionals enhance empathy it can reduce pain (both chronic and acute) and post-operative morphine use and improve immunity in post-operative patients.”

Speaking about her visit, Baroness Merron, said: “I greatly appreciated meeting with practitioners, midwives, patient representatives, alongside Jeremy Howick and the team of experts to discuss how important empathy is to patient care – especially within maternity and neonatal services.

“Far too often, I have heard stories of women feeling ignored and dismissed when they give birth. It is clear too many mothers have been failed, and this needs to change.

“That is why the fantastic work being carried out at the Stoneygate Centre for Empathic Healthcare makes a real difference to women ensuring that they feel listened to and receive the best possible care. 

“This government is committed to transforming the maternity and neonatal services. As a priority we are carefully considering the immediate and long-term steps required to ensure all women and their babies get equal access to safe, personalised and compassionate care.”

Leicester’s President and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Nishan Canagarajah, said: “The visit by Baroness Merron has given us the chance to showcase the incredible work taking place here to train future healthcare workers and those already in the role to ultimately change patients’ lives across all our diverse communities.