Humans empathise with humans, not numbers.

Statistics have a purpose. You could consider statistics as the translation of events into numbers and percentages. They can be used to explain the reduction in rates of crime, to monitor the economy or provide health care figures. But when it comes to healthcare, do statistics improve care?

Let’s use the Welsh Ambulance Service as an example. Politicians have criticised the service for having reached its eight minute response target 53.3% of the time; its aim was 65%. In fact, a recently commissioned review by Welsh Government suggests “major changes” are required. I am not for a second denying this is a good thing; obviously there needs to be an improvement and it’s good to see these recommendations being put forward. But there is one thing that I feel the numbers 65 and 53.3 fail to do, connect meaningfully with the public or the staff delivering the service.

What’s needed here, I believe, is information that creates empathy.

Empathy is similar to sympathy. You could think of empathy as “I feel your pain”, compared to sympathy as “I feel sorry about your pain”. Moving away from health care professionals and politicians, do the average UK residents empathise with these figures, and the experiences behind them? I don’t feel that this is the case. Figures, statistics and targets are all well and good, but for me they do not compare to a human story. One poignant and profound human story has much more of an impact than all the statistics under the sun. And that boils down to one simple fact; humans empathise with humans, not numbers.

The notion of altruism is fundamental to health care. To really care for others, you need to empathise with them, and have concerns for their welfare. How can we help NHS staff empathise with the people they’re caring for? It is for this reason that I believe personal stories are one of the most effective and impactful ways to improve services. I’ve not been working at Patient Opinion for a long time, yet I can honestly say I’ve already discovered more about the impact the NHS can have on people’s lives than a lifetime of statistics or targets could teach me. And that is all down to the stories I have read, and the people whom I have empathised with, yet shall never meet.

You will more than likely be familiar with the adage “a picture is worth a thousand words”. I believe when it comes to healthcare, a story is worth a thousand numbers, percentages, targets and figures. To truly improve services, you need empathy. And for me, to invoke empathy, you need to hear the human story.