Our Community

What comes to mind if we mention the word feedback? Reviews? Performance appraisals? Or… (dare we say it!), complaints? In actual fact, feedback is around us all the time.

In its simplest form, feedback is the passing of information between two people. But at its core, it is more than that; it is effective listening. Feedback can be provided in a number of ways, and is not just the words we use. It’s in the way we behave, the tone of our voice, our movements and actions, even our silences. It can be both positive and negative. At all times, the person providing the feedback needs to know that they have been understood and their opinions listened to. And that all feedback is valued. Feedback also has the power to enhance performance, create change and is a valuable tool for continued learning.

Without feedback, it can be like setting out on a journey without a map (or in this day and age, without an operational sat nav!). Not having a clear sense of how you have been doing and where you are heading can be frustrating and difficult to navigate.

At The Ralph we believe feedback is crucial to guiding us through our journey. To help us to deliver the compassionate care that lies at the heart of The Ralph, we know that feedback from our people, our veterinary and local communities, and our pet carers is integral to implementing our vision. A vision where everyone has a voice that is listened to, considered and valued.  From hearing about what practices want from their referral hospital, to the social activities our people would like to participate in, to how we can ensure our policies and procedures are being delivered. Feedback can and should stretch far and wide.

At the hospital, we will be using a number of strategies and platforms to communicate with our people, and to share and obtain feedback. Some of these platforms are online, to provide an accessible channel of communication. Some of these methods are regular face to face meetings, as you can sometimes miss out on the non-verbal feedback received when you see people. And some of these strategies extend beyond those – old-fashioned suggestion boxes being one of them as we know that people like to engage with information in lots of different ways.

This will be something that we continue to work on once the hospital is open. Feedback on our feedback strategies will be just as important as feedback on any other cultural element of our hospital.

We actively encourage feedback from everyone who comes into contact with The Ralph, and at all points of our journey. We want to hear it all – be it positive, negative or neutral. Because that is how we will continue to improve. We will always ensure that our people and community are empowered to provide feedback and that we will hear and respond to all voices who reach out to us.

Take care and look forward to seeing you here again soon!

The Ralph Team