Initiatives and Events


Celebrating Black History Month

October is Black History Month. We have been asking some of our colleagues to share their views:


#HelloMyNameIs badges

Thanks to funding from Kingston Hospital Charity, we are pleased to be rolling out yellow #HelloMyNameIs badges to staff across the Trust, supporting a campaign founded by Dr Kate Granger MBE to promote the importance of introductions within the healthcare community.

Each member of Kingston Hospital staff can order their own yellow badge with their preferred name, to help facilitate a simple introduction between staff and patients, and to prompt staff to ask each patient what they would like to be called.

The new standard name badge consists of bold black text on a yellow background and incorporates the #HelloMyNameIs logo to help support communications between our staff and patients, and to help us ensure we are continuing to deliver patient-centred, accessible, and compassionate care.


Supporting the armed forces community


At Kingston Hospital, we are committed to offering practical support for patients and the families of patients who are veterans or serving in the UK armed forces.

Our Chief Executive Jo Farrar signed the Armed Forces Covenant to ensure that no member of the Armed Forces community should face disadvantages in the provision of services, and that, in some circumstances, special treatment may be appropriate especially for the injured or bereaved.

We are now working towards becoming fully accredited as a Veteran Aware Accredited organisation. 

Further information and support


A full list of the support available to people in the armed forces and their families is available on the Confederation of Service Charities website.


Rainbow Badge

The Rainbow badge initiative was launched at Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in 2020 and with the support of our LGBTQ+ staff network, continues to grow support.

The Rainbow Badge initiative gives healthcare staff a way to show that their place of work offers open, non-judgemental and inclusive care for all who identify as LGBT+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, the + simply means inclusive of all identities, regardless of how people define themselves).

The initiative originated at Evelina London Children’s Hospital and community services, part of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. Its simple objective is to make a positive difference by promoting a message of inclusion.


Hidden Disabilities Sunflower

Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust became a member of the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower scheme in 2022. Hidden Disabilities Sunflower’s aim is to raise awareness of the daily challenges faced by individuals who live with an invisible disability and to provide support and training opportunities to individuals and organisations. The Sunflower initiative was launched in the UK in 2016 as a symbol to discreetly indicate to people around the wearer including staff, colleagues and health professionals that they need additional support, help or a little more time.

Since the Sunflower was established, it has been adopted globally by organisations to support both their colleagues and customers.

We aim to educate all Kingston Hospital staff on why someone, staff or patients, may wear a Sunflower lanyard or pin badge, what constitutes as a hidden disability and what can we do to help support them. We hope that by raising awareness and understanding of non-visible disabilities, we can create a culture of acceptance and compassion. We also hope that this will encourage staff to feel secure is disclosing disabilities and in turn help to better identify the needs of our workforce or areas where we need to improve. 


#My Name Is

As part of 2022’s Race Equality week, in collaboration with HRCH, Kingston Hospital participated in in the campaign #MyNameIs.

The names we are given, agonised over by our parents afraid of how it will affect us for the rest of our lives, are part of our identities. It’s who we are as individuals. It is also a connection to family, culture, heritage and history.

We must learn the importance of learning and seeing names we might find difficult at first. Being respectful is always worth the effort. By getting it right, you make someone feel accepted and comfortable, included and that they belong. It is an important part of mental and physical wellbeing. Allowing them to flourish with a strong sense of self. By naming someone wrongly, repeatedly, you are denying them the respect we are all entitled to as equals.

We created a guide to show staff how to record their name using an online programme and encouraged them to include this within their email signature. Colleagues can click on the recording and hear how your name is pronounced. It also spells out the name phonetically in various ways to support colleagues getting it right.


#Break The Bias

For International Women’s Day on 8 March 2022, HRCH, Kingston Hospital and Your Healthcare celebrated female achievements and joined the fight against bias by encouraging colleagues to take action for equality.

Many of us want to have a gender equal world, free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination. We still need to turn the dial on inclusion, to have a workplace and environment that are diverse, equitable and inclusive, in which all our differences are valued and celebrated. Individually, we’re all responsible for our own thoughts and actions – all day, every day. Whether deliberate or unconscious, bias makes it difficult for women to move ahead. Knowing bias exists isn’t enough, we need to act to level the playing field.

By raising awareness and celebrating colleagues who identify as women, we can start to break the bias in workplaces, communities and interactions with others. We asked our staff to Strike the IWD 2022 pose and share their #BreakTheBias photo to encourage people to commit to inclusive workplaces.


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