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The Stepping Hill Hospital
saline poisonings
Alicia Custis
Head of Communications & Marketing
• Run Stepping Hill Hospital and community health services in Stockport, Tameside & Glossop
• 500,000 patients a year through hospital
• £280 million annual budget
• 5000 staff - second largest employer in Stockport
• Strong record and good reputation
Our vital statistics
Our story
The first few days…
Monday 11th July 2011
• Increase of non-diabetic patients experiencing low blood sugar levels reported
• Hospital starts investigation
Tuesday 12th July 2011
• Faulty saline ampoules found
• Ampoules tested and found to contain insulin
• Incident reported to Greater Manchester Police
The first few days…
Thursday 14th July 2011
• Major incident procedures put in place - Gold command NHS/Greater Manchester Police
• Security measures implemented
Immediate security measures
• Security guards, 24-hour patrol at all hospital entrances and within hospital
• Static guards, 24 hours on two wards related to incident
• All saline ampoules replaced and delivery of saline to wards reviewed
• Two nurses for preparation and handling of drugs on all wards
• Required signing-in and out for access to all treatment rooms in hospital
• Plans for CCTV to be installed on all ward entrances and all ward treatment rooms
‘Mystery poisoner stalks the wards’
‘Hospital killer cops to probe 120 deaths’
‘Like an Agatha Christie novel, but with 700 suspects’
‘Tears in the dock’
‘Angel of death’
‘’Scapegoat’ nurse released’
‘Killer at large’
Chilling
message on
mirror at poison
deaths hospital
leaves patients
terrified
‘Male nurse arrested in triple murder quiz’
‘Stepping Hill deaths: Nurse Victorino Chua charged
with murder’
‘Stepping Hill poisoning trial: Agony of first alleged
insulin attack victim’
Guilty verdict: announced via Twitter
‘Thousands of foreign nurses could be working in
Britain with FAKE qualifications’
‘Philippines' 'booming qualification forgery' industry’
‘Daily Mail criticised for 'stereotyping' Filipino nurses
after Chua murder case’
Our reputation
management
challenge
Reputation management challenge 1: media
• Extensive
• Relentless
• Intrusive
• Sensational
Reputation management challenge 2: speed and
impact of social media
• Fast
• Widespread
• Opinionated
• Inaccurate
• Brutal
Reputation management challenge 3: stakeholders
• Reactive
• Twist, turns and complexity of investigation
• Restrictions in what we could say
Reputation management challenge 4: police
• Leading announcements & updates
• No relationships or protocols already in place
Reputation management challenge 5: victims and
families
• No direct contact
• Mixed responses
Our reputation
management
response
Our
reputation
management
response
Reputation management response
• Communications plan: incident, trial and verdict
Included:
• 24-hour hotline
• Key messages
• Ongoing updates & briefings to all stakeholders
• Media and social media strategy
• Guidance for staff
• Protocols with police press office
• Letters to victims and families
• Scenario planning
Key messages
• Deliberate and malicious act of sabotage, does not reflect on dedicated and skilled care
• Thanks to vigilance and professionalism of staff, was spotted quickly
• Safe hospital with excellent safety record
• Storage of saline typical to other hospitals, but now have additional security measures in place that go above and beyond standard practice
• Difficult time for everyone, thoughts with all the patients and families affected
• Grateful for outstanding support of community
• Investigation may continue for some time, fully supporting police with inquiries
Social media strategy
• Building up strong social media presence
• Monitoring & analysis
• ‘Listen and be present’ approach: acting quickly, being nice, being pro-active
• Protocols for consistent approach re ignoring, responding, engaging
Media strategy
• Single greatest influence on social media
• Building close relationships
• Wanted to ‘speak for ourselves’
• Open organisation with ‘nothing to hide’
• Could have happened anywhere, but now one of safest hospitals in land
• We care and we’re angry that someone has done this!
• Pushing ‘good news’ stories out there
“Detectives believe
the hospital is now
‘one of the safest in
the UK’ because of
extra security
measures”
Our golden
rules and
learning
points
Our learning points
• Trust your staff
• Be as open and honest as you can be
• Record everything
• Give the facts
• Take responsibility
Our learning points (continued)
• Effective crisis comms plan in place
• Important to know what people think
• Direct link between media and social media coverage
• Importance of social media strategy
Our learning points (continued)
• Good relationships with media
• Media trained spokesmen
• Importance of advocates in community
• Balancing act
• “Poison probe hospital” legacy
• Reputation management planning going forward
