What makes a good patient journey film? A guide for NHS and healthcare communicators
A patient journey film does something that clinical guidelines, leaflets and even in-person consultations often struggle to do, it shows what an experience actually feels like from the inside. Not what a pathway involves in clinical terms, but what it is to be the person going through it. That shift of perspective, from information to experience, is what makes patient journey films so effective when they’re done well.
Why beneficiary stories matter so much
A patient journey film follows a real patient through a clinical experience from their perspective. It might cover a screening appointment from arrival to results. A course of treatment from diagnosis to recovery. A day in the life of someone managing a long-term condition. Or a single significant moment, a first consultation, a difficult conversation, a discharge home.
The purpose is typically one or more of the following: to reduce anxiety about a procedure or appointment by showing that it’s manageable; to build trust in an NHS service by showing it through the eyes of someone who has been through it; to recruit staff by showing the difference a clinical role makes to a real person; or to raise awareness of a condition by showing what living with it involves.
What makes a patient journey film work
A real person, not a spokesperson. The whole power of this format depends on authenticity. An actor reading from a script will never achieve what a real patient telling their own story does. The slight stumble over a word, the quiet pause before answering, the moment when emotion is visible are not problems to be edited out. They are what makes the film special and work as reassurance for the audience.
The patient’s voice, not the clinician’s. Patient journey films that get taken over by medical explanations stop being patient journey films and become corporate health information videos. The clinical information should be present, it needs to be accurate, but it should serve the patient’s story, not replace it.
Enough time. Rushing a patient journey film in order to cover more ground in the same duration almost always produces a worse film. The right length for a patient journey film is however long it takes to tell the story properly, which is usually between two and five minutes.
Filming in the real environment. Our films for Guys and St Thomas’ maternity unit (coming soon!) were filmed in real NHS settings and peoples home. They tell the stories of those who’ve given birth with Guys and St Thomas’ and help viewers ask questions, understand what to expect and address concerns.
Patient journey films and sensitive subjects
Some patient journeys involve subjects that require particular care — serious illness, mental health, end of life, complex disabilities. Our film for Dravet Syndrome UK covered a families experience of Dravet Syndrome, a subject that demanded the highest levels of contributor care and clinical accuracy at every stage of production.
For these subjects, the ethical framework we outlined in our guide to filming beneficiary stories applies fully. The clinical and welfare considerations are not an add-on to the production, they shape every decision from brief to delivery.
What does a patient journey film cost?
A single patient journey film, filmed over one day in a clinical or home environment with one patient contributor, typically starts from around £4,000 to £7,000 depending on the complexity of the filming environment and post-production requirements. Productions involving multiple patients, multiple locations or complex clinical access permissions are scoped individually.
Take a look at a selection of our healthcare work and Get in touch → to talk through your patient journey film brief.