Why healthcare communication often fails before the media is contacted
Why healthcare communication often fails before the media is contacted
Rob Lagendijk
Rob Lagendijk
25 July 2026
Most communication problems in healthcare start before a journalist is contacted. They begin when a decision is made without a clear explanation of what it means for patients, when different departments each hold part of the answer, or when a digital care programme is technically ready but professionals do not yet agree on what changes in practice.
Most communication problems in healthcare start before a journalist is contacted. They begin when a decision is made without a clear explanation of what it means for patients, when different departments each hold part of the answer, or when a digital care programme is technically ready but professionals do not yet agree on what changes in practice.
By the time a journalist calls, those gaps become visible. Healthcare communication is therefore not only a question of wording. It is often a question of governance, responsibility and trust.
By the time a journalist calls, those gaps become visible. Healthcare communication is therefore not only a question of wording. It is often a question of governance, responsibility and trust.
Communication problems are often organisational problems
Communication problems are often organisational problems
A press release can be rewritten. An unresolved organisational question cannot. If a board describes a change as an improvement, professionals may experience it as extra work. If digital care is presented as more accessible, patients may still worry about continuity or human contact. If a healthtech company promises better outcomes, clinicians will want to know what evidence supports that claim and who remains accountable.
A press release can be rewritten. An unresolved organisational question cannot. If a board describes a change as an improvement, professionals may experience it as extra work. If digital care is presented as more accessible, patients may still worry about continuity or human contact. If a healthtech company promises better outcomes, clinicians will want to know what evidence supports that claim and who remains accountable.
Strong healthcare communication starts by making those questions explicit: what is changing, why is it necessary, who benefits, who carries new risks or responsibilities, what is already known and what remains uncertain?
Strong healthcare communication starts by making those questions explicit: what is changing, why is it necessary, who benefits, who carries new risks or responsibilities, what is already known and what remains uncertain?
Patients experience consequences, organisations experience projects
Patients experience consequences, organisations experience projects
Internally, healthcare change is often organised as a programme, implementation plan or strategic initiative. Patients and professionals experience something else: a different appointment process, a new tool in the consultation room, a changed route to care or a new expectation about what they should do themselves.
Internally, healthcare change is often organised as a programme, implementation plan or strategic initiative. Patients and professionals experience something else: a different appointment process, a new tool in the consultation room, a changed route to care or a new expectation about what they should do themselves.
Communication becomes credible when it starts from those real experiences rather than from internal project language.
Communication becomes credible when it starts from those real experiences rather than from internal project language.
Digital care creates extra layers of trust
Digital care creates extra layers of trust
Technology adds questions traditional healthcare communication cannot ignore. What data is collected? Where is it processed? Who can access it? How are errors detected? What happens if a system gives the wrong suggestion? Can a patient choose an alternative? Does the professional remain responsible?
Technology adds questions traditional healthcare communication cannot ignore. What data is collected? Where is it processed? Who can access it? How are errors detected? What happens if a system gives the wrong suggestion? Can a patient choose an alternative? Does the professional remain responsible?
A reassuring message is not enough if the underlying arrangements are unclear. The communications task is to distinguish clearly between what the technology does, what evidence exists, what the limitations are and where human judgement remains essential.
A reassuring message is not enough if the underlying arrangements are unclear. The communications task is to distinguish clearly between what the technology does, what evidence exists, what the limitations are and where human judgement remains essential.
Internal inconsistency becomes external risk
Internal inconsistency becomes external risk
One of the fastest ways to lose trust is to give different answers to the same question. If the website says one thing, a spokesperson says another and frontline staff have a third explanation, stakeholders will notice. Journalists certainly will.
One of the fastest ways to lose trust is to give different answers to the same question. If the website says one thing, a spokesperson says another and frontline staff have a third explanation, stakeholders will notice. Journalists certainly will.
Before going public, leadership, communications, clinical experts and operational teams should agree on the facts, the claims, the boundaries and the difficult questions. Finding tension before publication is not a delay. It is risk management.
Before going public, leadership, communications, clinical experts and operational teams should agree on the facts, the claims, the boundaries and the difficult questions. Finding tension before publication is not a delay. It is risk management.
PR is not the first intervention
PR is not the first intervention
Media attention can strengthen a credible position, but it cannot create one from nothing. When an organisation approaches journalists too early, publicity tends to amplify the unresolved parts of the story.
Media attention can strengthen a credible position, but it cannot create one from nothing. When an organisation approaches journalists too early, publicity tends to amplify the unresolved parts of the story.
Good PR therefore begins before media outreach. It begins with position, proof and ownership.
Good PR therefore begins before media outreach. It begins with position, proof and ownership.
Five questions before going public
Five questions before going public
What exactly are we asking people to believe? What evidence supports that claim? Which stakeholders are affected and what questions are they likely to ask? Who can answer those questions credibly? What remains uncertain or unresolved, and how will we communicate that honestly?
What exactly are we asking people to believe? What evidence supports that claim? Which stakeholders are affected and what questions are they likely to ask? Who can answer those questions credibly? What remains uncertain or unresolved, and how will we communicate that honestly?
What strong healthcare communication looks like
What strong healthcare communication looks like
Strong healthcare communication does not remove complexity. It makes complexity understandable without pretending it does not exist. It connects organisational strategy to the reality of patients and professionals, separates evidence from ambition and aligns stakeholders before public visibility.
Strong healthcare communication does not remove complexity. It makes complexity understandable without pretending it does not exist. It connects organisational strategy to the reality of patients and professionals, separates evidence from ambition and aligns stakeholders before public visibility.
Trust is not produced by one campaign. It is built through repeated consistency between what an organisation says, what it can prove and what people experience.
Trust is not produced by one campaign. It is built through repeated consistency between what an organisation says, what it can prove and what people experience.