“What Matters to Me” – a new vital sign | Jason Leitch | TEDxGlasgow

When a person is admitted to hospital, they will have their vital signs measured. Vital signs are the most important signs that tell clinical teams about a patient’s life-sustaining functions and are taken to help assess the health of a person and give clues to possible illnesses. One of the biggest challenges facing local and global healthcare delivery is an absence of compassion. The continual focus on improved technical cures and the next new machine or drug has been at the expense of simple care, empathy and understanding. If someone asked you “What matters to you?” how would you answer? Jason’s thought-provoking talk will consider this very question drawing on his own compassion and experience in the health service.

Jason Leitch is the National Clinical Director at the Scottish Government and an Honorary Professor at the University of Dundee. Chosen as the HFMA 2011 UK Clinician of the Year, he was previously a Quality Improvement Fellow sponsored by the Health Foundation at IHI, in Boston from 2005-06. Jason is now a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) and a trustee of the Indian Rural Evangelical Fellowship which runs orphanages in south-east India. He has a doctorate from the University of Glasgow, an MPH from Harvard and is a fellow of the three Royal Colleges.

[davythehibee]

Was led here after seeing Jason talking about coronavirus. Thought the name was familiar..yes if you are watching Jason, you stood for me at my Baptism in 1989. I am also a healthcare worker now

[bernardcollins]

Mr Leitch is an outstanding communicator, an essential quality in this time of covid uncertainty. This very morning he was interviewed on radio 4 about a corona outbreak amongst Glasgow students. He laid out the facts calmly and concisely, and when invited to criticise and blame student behaviour (lack of social distancing etc) he explained the difficulties being faced by young people returning to universities in an appropriate, non judgemental, and sympathetic way, resisting the easy resort to blaming, a tactic so favoured by the ideologically driven Westminister Conservatives. The contrast between Mr Leitch's approach and that of his counterpart Matt Hancock is stark. The people of Scotland are extremely lucky to be served by Jason Leitch. Well done and thank you sir!

[lozareth]

Thank you. I was lead here for uni but I’m glad I watched it. I’m going to try this with my residents and their family when they come in.

[bobstewart]

Anyone who can communicate like that is a real asset when we are going through a crisis. Better than most politicians at disseminating facts and laying them out calmly and clearly.

[OurWedding]

What matters to you seems a great initiative in a NHS system, which often dehumanises the patients rights and feeling of self worth. If you have ever been in hospital you will be familiar with Dr’s who turn up and talk about you with a nurse without introducing themselves to you. Worse still if they appear at your bed with a group of students, again don’t introduce themselves to you, don’t wear name badges and talk about you instead of to you and ask “what is important to you”. I appreciate not all are like this but I have seen enough who are when dealing with myself or relatives.

[dbell]

I loved the feeling in the video because it made me feel good about healthcare when I thought about it because not everyone giving service in healthcare is a horrible person but some people only look at their job in healthcare as a way to put food on the table.This in my opinion is the wrong way to look at a job in healthcare. Do you really want to be a patient of a worker in healthcare that only looks at taking care of you part of your job? I can personally say that my mother works in a hospital and although she is not a part of the what matters to me program she makes everyone feel like she cares about them and she works very hard to make her patients feel that they are cared for and that she feels their needs are important. It made me happy to hear that this what matters to me program is making people feel good and helping people like Paige that they talked about in the video or about Rose. They were able to be looked at by things that matter to them, not what is wrong with them. I believe that we need to adapt this into our healthcare jobs here in the United States. Do you really want someone taking care of you who doesn't have this state of mind?

[scottsofardlair]

Ironically, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) is a  huge American Corporation. They are being paid a huge fee for their input into the Scottish version of the NHS. Most Scots have no idea how much money from the UK gov is being syphoned off to corporations and their shareholders. Maybe they should try to find out.

Don't be fobbed of by the defence that the the (IHI) is not for profit organisation. That would be totally misrepresenting the basis to any conglomerate.

[ladyj]

I don't think I'll be the only Scot thinking well this didn't quite take off at my local hospital 😢

[Sunburst]

It's true Leitch is a dentist, but what he tells us comes from scientists. It's not his own opinion. He's done a good job so far. Clearer information put out than Boris and his clowns.

[zeuszeus]

this guy is a dentist, not a medical doctor ... so, why is he the National Clinical Director at the Scottish Government during the Covid-19 scandal? and why is he leading people to believe (in this video) that he is a medical doctor? ... note he talks about health care professionals, but does not once mention doctors ... he also talks about what "we" do when you (the audience) come into hospital ... last time I checked dentists do not meet patients in hospitals!

[Heresjohny]

Laughable a dentist telling the nation to wear masks during the plandemic 😂 😂