“Thus far we’ve actually seen an increase in some of the numbers of people coming forward, certainly to freedom to speak up guardians,” Ms Donnelly, ambassador for cultural change at Midlands Partnership Foundation Trust.

But as she reviews the current landscape, 18 months into a pandemic, a difficult summer behind and a very concerning winter ahead, she sees reason for concern – and an uncomfortable reminder of the failings she saw when she was a nurse at Mid Staffordshire FT.

“I think we’re at a tipping point now. We’re at a point in time when burnout is really high, there are huge issues around capacity and retention.

“And the message from the centre is: ‘Just get the job done and get it done quickly.’ That is a dangerous position to be in because it will silence people. That was essentially the climate we had at Mid Staffs which led people to either cut corners and lie about it, or just stop caring in the way that we should, and we should never lose sight of that.”

Ms Donnelly – who raised concerns while at Mid Staffordshire and ultimately went on to give evidence at both inquiries into what is deemed the biggest care failing in NHS history – was speaking at a recent HSJ webinar. Run in association with RLDatix, it brought together an expert panel to consider how the NHS can best support honesty in a time of extreme pressure.

The readiness Toolkit is designed to help regions, ICSs and employers to prepare for the implementation of HEE’s Allied Health Profession (AHP) Support Worker Competency, Education and Career Development Framework, and develop high-quality, innovative training, education and careers for support workers across AHP services.

Making learning work for AHP support workers

This Guide aims to provide employers and support workers with information, advice and guidance on how to create supportive learning cultures and processes in the workplace.

AHP support workforce – understanding education, qualifications and development

This guide provides a brief overview of the formal education and development opportunities that assist support worker learning, including Functional Skills and Technical levels (T levels).

Supporting AHP Students

eLearning programme available to provide non-registered AHP assistants and support staff with training to develop their understanding of student education and develop their skills in supporting students and educators within their teams.

Support Worker Education Qualification Mapping Tool

This tool will support you, as project leads, SRO’s, delivering on the AHP support worker project, to match your support workforce qualifications against the qualification standards within the framework. It will support transparent, quality career conversations with managers and / or support workers to provide a clear baseline.

• First, that delivering equality of outcome and opportunity should be the professional and moral obligation of every leader in the NHS. If it is not already happening, senior and executive leaders need to be accountable for developing and delivering urgent plans to eliminate inequality in their organisations.
• Second, that no one organisation is doing everything well. There are pockets of good practice across all WRES indicators, but no single organisation is exemplary. Every organisation must face up to its limitations and, as set out in the People Plan, develop measurable strategies to overcome them. 
• Third, the disproportionate rate of death among black and minority ethnic staff is intrinsically linked to their over-representation in some of the most at risk groups. Those who work on the front lines of public services are often more exposed to the risk of infection, just as they are more exposed to bullying, harassment and discrimination. This years’ WRES reports a welcome increase in the diversity of our senior leadership. There has been a 42% increase in BAME Very Senior Managers, and a 22% increase in BAME trust board members since 2017. Alongside improved representation at senior level, cultures must become more inclusive as leaders develop pipelines of talent across the grades and throughout organisations, if we hope to see equality across the entire workforce.

Key findings:

• Delays caused by hospital handover, resulting in reduced ambulance availability, are a frequent occurrence, limiting ambulance resource and affecting the Trust’s ability to respond in a timely way to demand. This can have a detrimental impact upon outcomes for patients.
• Concerns were highlighted with the consistency of incident reporting, with a need for the Trust to ensure a consistent understanding of what constitutes a reportable incident. 
• There was a strong team ethos within the Trust’s Emergency Medical Service Clinical Contact Centres (EMSCCCs) in what is a stressful environment, with staff striving to deliver services, often in extremely difficult circumstances.
• The pressurised working environment was however having a negative impact on staff well-being with inadequate staffing levels impacting on the safe delivery of the service.
• Staff raised concerns that the training and support they received needed to be improved, in order to carry out their roles effectively. 

The report sets out 27 recommendations on how the Welsh Ambulance Service Trust might be able to improve its service. 

To read the document in full and to access an Easy Read version, follow the link below.

• how shift work can impact on health, safety and wellbeing
• what can employers and employees do
• the importance of partnership working on shift working patterns.