Thousands of press releases are sent every day and most of them go straight to the bin. Here’s how to get yours actually read by the people you want to read them.

If you work in health and care communications, you already know how hard it is to cut through. Journalists covering the NHS, social care and the wider healthcare sector are busy, understaffed and drowning in emails. Your press release is competing with dozens of others, a handful of breaking stories and a reporter who hasn’t had lunch yet. So the question isn’t just “is this newsworthy?” It’s “will this person open it, read it, and care?”

Here’s how to give your release the best possible chance.

Start with the subject line – cliché but true

Your subject line is not a summary. It is not a formal announcement. It is the one line that decides whether a journalist reads the rest or hits delete. It needs to tell the story, not dress it up.

“Trust launches new community diabetes initiative” is going in a virtual filing cabinet. 

“New initiative helps 1 in 5 diabetes patients failed by the system” is a story.

Write the headline last if you need to, but make it earn its place. Avoid jargon, acronyms and anything that requires insider knowledge to decode. If a member of the public wouldn’t understand it, a busy journalist probably won’t stop to work it out either.

Pass the ‘so what?’ test

Before you write a single word, ask yourself: so what? Why does this matter, who should it matter to and why now?

This is the step most health and care organisations skip. They focus on the what (a new service, a report, a milestone) without landing on the why it matters. A GP surgery opening a new phone line is not news. A GP surgery that has cut call waiting times by 40 per cent, after a year of patient complaints, is.

Your press release needs to answer the so what in the first two paragraphs. Journalists are trained to look for the story in those first few lines. If it isn’t there, they move on.

Follow the structure that works

There is a reason the inverted pyramid format has been used in journalism for over a century: it works. Put the most important information first, then add context and detail, then background.

For a health and social care press release, a reliable structure looks like this: Open with the news, in plain English. Follow with a quote from a senior figure or, better still, someone affected by the issue. Add two or three paragraphs of context and supporting detail. Include a brief boilerplate about your organisation. Close with contact details, including a phone number, because journalists sometimes like to use the phone.

Quotes deserve a special mention. “We are absolutely delighted to announce this exciting new development, which will transform services for our communities”, tells the reader nothing. Quotes should sound like something a real human being said, and they should add something the rest of the release doesn’t already cover.

Keep it short

One page. Occasionally two, if the story genuinely demands it. Never three. If you cannot explain your news in 400 to 500 words, you probably haven’t worked out what your news actually is yet. Go back to the ‘so what?’ test.

Build relationships before you need them

A press release sent cold to a journalist who has never heard of you is a long shot. The organisations that consistently get coverage are the ones that have done the groundwork: they know which reporters cover their area, they respond quickly when called, and they are helpful even when there is nothing in it for them that day.

Local media matters enormously for health and care organisations. A story in a regional paper or on a local radio station can reach exactly the audience you are trying to get to. Find out who covers health in your area, read their work and make sure they know you are a reliable, accessible source.

Sector media matters too. Health Service Journal, Nursing Times, Community Care and similar titles are read by commissioners, policymakers and peers. Coverage there can open different doors.

A few things to avoid

Do not embargo a story unless you have a very good reason. Most health and care announcements do not need one. Do not send a release on a Friday afternoon unless you want it ignored. Do not attach a 4MB photo and clog up someone’s inbox. Do not follow up with “just checking you received my release” within 24 hours.

And do not, under any circumstances, write a press release by committee. Every person who reviews it will soften the headline, qualify the claims and sand off the edges until nothing interesting remains – strong relationships don’t start and end with journalists, organisations need to be able to trust the judgement and expertise of their marketing teams too.

The bottom line

A good press release is clear, confident and genuinely newsworthy. It respects the journalist’s time. It tells a story rather than announcing a fact. And it comes from an organisation that has done the work to be worth covering.

That is what gets your press release read.

Want help developing a media strategy for your health or care organisation? Get in touch with our team.