SHARED DECISION MAKING

A Facilitator's Blog

Hi, my name is Matt Kendall and I'm a registered nurse. From the start of my career back in 2016, I was involved in Pathway to Excellence and more significantly, Shared Decision Making, at Northampton General Hospital. Within months of being qualified I became a council member and later chair of the Newly Qualified Nurse Council, which introduced me to the world of Nursing Excellence and rapidly educated me on the world of Nursing beyond the ward.

My time as a Council member and Chair not only gave me a great deal of understanding of the SDM model, it also gave me clear insight into the ingrained hierarchical structures in the NHS and how our staff across the system truly lack a voice. I have become deeply passionate about championing the model of SDM to empower staff, improve communication and most importantly, enable our staff to have their voice heard. 

During my time at Northampton General Hospital, I went on to become their second SDM Facilitator helping to grow the model, and became the first Facilitator in the UK to be Pathway to Excellence designated. Since then, I have gone on to work with much of the same incredible Leadership team at University Hospitals of Leicester wherein I have grown the Shared Decision Making model from scratch since 2020. Furthermore, I am very privileged to be the Secretary of Nursing and Midwifery Excellence UK (NAME UK). 

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With nearly 6 years of experience working with SDM, I am keen to support new organisations looking to embed the model. As a result, I've written this blog to help answer a few questions on the topic of SDM and how you can get started! 

With Nursing Excellence now flourishing across the UK, it is vital we see Shared Decision Making implemented and done so in a successful and sustainable way. 

If you have any questions or need any support, please drop me a direct message on Twitter @MattKendall17