An award-winning crisis response to Covid-19

We are proud to have been recognised at PR Week’s Healthcare and Pharma Awards for our crisis response to Covid-19, working in collaboration with client Spire Healthcare.

To help support the NHS at a time of national crisis, 38 of Spire’s 39-strong hospital estate was made available to the NHS at cost under a landmark contract with the private sector.

The reputation and communications challenges were manifold across multiple audiences from investors, to politicians, the NHS, patients, employees and, of course, the media. As the only listed private healthcare provider, Spire faced a unique challenge in communicating its involvement.

The response was a carefully planned and executed multi-channel campaign to reach Spire’s audiences and maintain the confidence of its key stakeholders.

This involved a media programme that combined in-depth features with national newspapers and local TV news items to show how Spire was helping across the UK to treat the backlog of patients on waiting lists including for serious conditions such as cancer.

Employee engagement made sure employees felt motivated and able to share and recognise their own hard work and success.

Investor communications through regular RNS announcements was also critical to keep audiences updated on the change in strategy and revenue mix.

Lastly, lessons learned and benefits gained were shared by submitting evidence to the Health Select Committee and the Public Accounts Committee’s inquiries on the pandemic.

The judges concluded that it was a “Well balanced campaign that was able to target all stakeholder groups effectively.”

Congratulations to the Spire team for its hard work over the last year and to the other winners.