Stories about a newly qualified Nurse with dyslexia and a patient with Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) dominated the local news agenda involving St Andrew’s Healthcare in October.

The media coverage in the last month alone has reached around 943,000 people, which in advertising terms is the equavilant of more than £14,000.

At the beginning of the month, former Healthcare Assistant Stephen Medcraft spoke out about his educational journey and learning difficulty to mark National Dyslexia Week.

The story got picked up by the Chronicle and Echo, Love East Midlands, Business in the News, Business in the Midlands, the Healthcare Newsdesk, Wellbeing News, All Post News, UK News Latest, Tea Talk Magazine and Northants Life.

Steve’s story was also used to promote the St Andrew’s recruitment event which was held in October. Steve – who has never done any media before – took part in a total of three radio interviews for BBC Radio Northampton, Revolution Radio and NN Live. On the BBC alone he made it onto the Breakfast show, as well as Tim Wheeler’s programme and John Griff’s show.

Patient Mercedys Gunnels bravely told her story to the press, in order to help launch the #EndTheEdit campaign, which St Andrew’s created to mark World Mental Health Day on October 10.

Mercedys discussed how self-hatred caused her to turn to alcohol to try to make herself feel better. As part of the campaign, which was a huge hit on the My St Andrew’s Facebook page and also went externally too, people were encouraged to post a picture on social media without the use of a filter or any editing.

The story was published on the Chronicle and Echo website as well as in the physical newspaper. Healthcare News and UK News Latest ran the story and BBC Northampton interviewed Mercedys.

Liz Ritchie secured a mention in national newspaper the Independent, issuing advice to couples who are thinking about having a baby.

The partnership between Pink Rooster and St Andrew’s was reported in the publication Northants Life, the National Health Executive and the Chronicle and Echo. Pink Rooster was also interviewed by Revolution Radio, who put out the interview on the same day.

The Aspire Programme receivied a fair amount of media coverage thorughout October after it was unveiled that more than 100 Healthcare Assistants have taken advantage of the education intitiave. The story was published on the Business in the Midlands website and the Healthcare Newsdesk.