Healthcare copywriter makes outstanding medical services shine
How does a healthcare copywriter work with marketing clients to make medical services stand out? After all, there are so many private hospitals in London showcasing their excellence.
The UK, and London in particular, is the go-to destination for medical tourists. They can afford to pay for the best healthcare themselves or their governments finance their treatments.
It can be difficult for marketers to get these potential customers interested in your services and communicating their value. Look at the brochures from London’s top private hospitals. They all say similar things – they offer high standards of clinical care, world-class doctors, and pioneering treatments.
Marketing content from Guy’s and St Thomas’ Private Healthcare (now Guy’s and St Thomas’ Specialist Care) makes the same point. As part of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, Guy’s and St Thomas’ provides private patients with access to first-class healthcare services and facilities. Moreover, they get expert consultants who are leaders and pioneers in their field.
So, the marketing team gets the healthcare copywriter to weave these benefits in with other key differentiators. Examples include the reputation and achievements of Private Patient Services, specifically its specialist areas. Other differentiators are the impressive range of world firsts and its ability to treat patients all through their lives. As a teaching hospital, its consultants are also at the forefront of research and innovation.
Therefore, judging by the increasing number of private patients the service attracts, it’s a successful marketing strategy.
Healthcare copywriter’s use of distinctive messaging clarifies the benefits
The marketing team asked me to ensure its newsletter emphasised the unique services offered by Guy’s and St Thomas’ Private Healthcare. The brief was to keep a broad audience of embassies, health officials, and UK and international private patients updated with this growing service.
The first newsletter, In-form, pictured, focused on Guy’s and St Thomas’ world-renowned Evelina London Children’s Hospital and its specialist paediatric cardiology and fetal cardiology services.
The hospital is the first children’s hospital in the UK that the Care Quality Commission (CQC) rated Outstanding. Additionally, Evelina London also has one of the UK’s largest intensive care units and one of the largest neonatal units in England. Among the world firsts the cardiology service performed are catheter intervention, cardiac imaging and fetal cardiology.
And few hospitals in the UK can offer complex clinical care from before birth to every stage of life like Guy’s and St Thomas’. The neonatal service is another big advantage. It has close links to maternity services at St Thomas’ Hospital and Evelina London’s position is on-site for paediatrics.
It’s worth adding another benefit (mentioned by the healthcare copywriter in other marketing material). The income from private patient activity is reinvested back into the NHS to support clinical services for the benefits of all the trust’s patients.
Creative collaboration with healthcare copywriter enhances communication
Private Patients’ Marketing Manager Sharmeela Sleath spearheaded the creative process on the first issue, bringing me in as healthcare copywriter to write the content.
Sharmeela said: “Alison has worked closely with us since 2017 and knows the benefits of our private healthcare services so well that she didn’t need much of a steer to get the angles of each story right. You feel supported when you’ve worked with a copywriter for so long over multiple projects and the process runs smoother when you can trust their editorial instincts.”
Another important collaborator on the newsletter was Pad Creative. The design agency has supported the communications and marketing teams at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Private Healthcare since 2017.
Alison Steward, Director of Creative Services at Pad, said: “We refined the design to fit the readership and reflect the angles of the stories the marketing team wanted us to focus on. We’re pleased with the resulting newsletter, which gives private patients an insight into the range of services Guy’s and St Thomas’ Private Healthcare provides.”
Updated: 4 July 2024
