Kate Granger
Kate Miriam Granger MBE (born on 31 October 1981) is an English doctor who started the #hellomynameis campaign. She works at the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust. She was diagnosed with Desmoplastic small-round-cell tumor, a type of sarcoma, in 2011 when she was 29 while training to become a geriatrician.
She first became ill when on holiday in California with her husband Chris Pointon. She was treated in the Emergency Room in Santa Cruz when her kidneys failed. She returned to Leeds and was given further tests. When she was told the diagnosis she knew that DSRCT that had metastasized had "an utterly dismal prognosis". She was treated with P6 protocol chemotherapy and endured a great deal of very unpleasant treatment which she has described in detail.[1]
She describes how the news that her condition was incurable was broken to her: ‘If you can put yourself in my position – I’m 29 years old, I know I’ve got cancer, I think it’s confined to my abdomen so I’m expecting to have an operation, maybe some chemotherapy and possibly a cure. I’m in a side room. I can hear everything that’s going on outside. I’m in pain and alone. A junior doctor comes to see me to talk to me about the results of the MRI scan I’d had earlier in the week. I’d never met this doctor before. He came into my room, he sat down in the chair next to me and looked away from me. Without any warning or asking if I wanted anyone with me he just said, “Your cancer has spread”. He then could not leave the room quick enough and I was left in deep psychological distress. I never saw him again. I am a little bit psychologically scarred by that experience.’[2]
In her 2014 article in The Guardian entitled Having cancer is not a fight or a battle, Granger explains how the use of military language such as "battle with cancer" whilst perhaps aiming to instil a sense of positivity, can have the opposite effect.[3]
#hellomynameis campaign
She subsequently started the #hellomynameis campaign,[4] chiefly using Twitter, where she now has over 42,000 followers,[5] and the hashtag #hellomynameis, to encourage healthcare staff to introduce themselves to patients. The campaign has been endorsed by more than 400,000 doctors, nurses, therapists, receptionists and porters across over 90 organisations, including NHS Trusts across England, NHS Scotland and NHS Wales. She has spoken passionately at many health conferences and her campaign is supported by the Prime Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, many celebrities, and a huge number of leaders in health organisations.[6]
She was awarded an MBE in the 2015 New Year Honours.
Publications
Awards and honours
Granger was awarded a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to the NHS and improving care.[9]
References
- ↑ "Kate's Story". Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
- ↑ "How NHS dehumanises patients, by doctor, 32, who is dying of rare form of cancer". Daily Mail. 6 June 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
- ↑ http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/apr/25/having-cancer-not-fight-or-battle
- ↑ #hellomynameis website
- ↑ "Terminally ill doctor Kate Granger's 'my name is' campaign wins support". BBC News. 2 February 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
- ↑ The Other Side
- ↑ The Bright Side
- ↑ Pantry, Lindsay (30 December 2014). "New Year’s Honours: MBE for inspirational Leeds doctor". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 12 June 2015.