Situation:
As part of the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, NHS Live is a free, national learning network supporting staff, patients and their communities to realise local improvement ideas. For their conference, Energising 2007: Big Ideas, Simple Actions, the focus was on how to turn ideas into real actions and solutions. They recognised that storytelling could be a valuable tool for communication within the NHS and so contacted TheWholeStory.

Solution:
A total of 250 delegates took part in one of two 1-hour workshops to discover how to use the skills of storytelling to share best practice and create enthusiasm and motivation for new ideas.

Results:
The interactive workshop was an opportunity for delegates to mix and share stories about local achievements, best practice, success, growth and the replicable processes that made them possible. Following the workshop, delegates' initially jargon filled anecdotes and delivery of information became warm, human, easily understood and applicable to other situations. The stories now communicated what was at the heart of achievements, where the impulse for change came from and what was of importance and value. Since the conference we were commissioned to design and run a workshop (Speaking for Success) in London, Coventry and Liverpool, to improve NHS Live members' skills to present and implement their ideas for changes. We are also pleased to be part of the NHS's 60th Birthday celebrations this year.