Relative communicators: evaluation of an innovative hospital role emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic

Background During the COVID-19 pandemic, hospital visiting policies made communication challenging. Effective communication is known to reduce anxiety for patients and relatives, and improve trust in healthcare services. We describe an innovative project in which students and staff were deployed to the role of ‘Relative Communicators’, enabling routine updates and facilitating video calls between patients and their next of kin (NOK).The aim of our project was to explore NOK's perceptions of communication about their inpatient relatives and the Relative Communicators.Method Participants were asked to complete a structured interview over a telephone call but could use the online form if this was not possible. Hence, we obtained data using a combination of interviews and online surveys. NOK, who utilized the relative communicator service (n = 30), were surveyed. Quantitative data and free-text responses were analysed to understand their perceptions.Results 85.7% of respondents (24/28) were satisfied with information they received from Relative Communicators. 43.3% (13/30) of NOK felt they could communicate with their relative ‘the right amount’, and 56.7% (17/30) felt they were sufficiently involved in care decisions. Qualitative data provided further insights around the demand for proactive updates, frustration with existing communication models, and praise of telecommunication methods.Conclusions We suggest proactive updates and telecommunication could improve the experience for patients and NOK. Relative Communicators provided a bridge for inpatients and NOK to connect. The pandemic has exacerbated systemic communication issues and innovations, such as the Relative Communicators, may help to address these challenges.