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Showing results for tags 'Staff support'.
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Content ArticleNHS chiefs and regulators have written to hospital bosses admitting winter could be so bad NHS staff may have to "depart from established procedures" to care for patients. Letter says regulators will take the challenging situations into context...
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Content ArticleHow ambulance staff feel about their work has long been a concern, but the results of the latest staff survey show that their job satisfaction has deteriorated further. This blog from the Nuffield Trust takes a closer look at the findings and describes the importance of improving the situation.
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Content ArticleOn the 18 October it was announced that NHS Trusts have been given an optional six-month extension to implement Learn From Patient Safety Events (LFPSE). There are a lot of messages being talked about and there has been some confusion over what this means. So, what do organisations need to have in place by 31 March 2023 and what has changed? In this blog*, Radar Healthcare cover some of the key information.
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News Article
NHS staff ‘petrified’ of how bad winter will be at hospitals in England
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Doctors and nurses are “absolutely frightened and petrified” about how bad this winter will be for the NHS in England, hospital bosses have revealed. Staff fear services will not be able to cope with a combination of flu, resurgent Covid, winter and the cost of living crisis damaging people’s health, and also the wave of looming strikes over pay. “People are genuinely scared,” said the chief executive of one acute NHS trust in England. “I’m talking to senior clinicians and consultants and nurses who are absolutely frightened and petrified about what’s potentially to come,” added the hospital boss, speaking on condition of anonymity. Staff are anxious because of “the potential for the impact of Covid and flu, the impact of industrial action, the impact of cost of living, the impact on people’s health from that, [and] the massive increases in mental health need, and the breakdown in primary care and social care.” Chiefs of other NHS trusts in England said they shared that gloomy prognosis. They are bracing themselves for having to curtail and cancel services on days when staff stop work over pay, including outpatient clinics and non-urgent surgery. The NHS will face an “onslaught” this winter, one said. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 15 November 2022 -
Content Article
The Surviving in Scrubs campaign, created by Dr Becky Cox and Dr Chelcie Jewitt, gives a voice to women in healthcare to raise awareness and end sexism, sexual harassment and sexual assault in healthcare. In this blog for the hub, co-founder Dr Chelcie Jewitt tells us more about the campaign. -
Content Article
Five tips to improve wellbeing and communication
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Good practice
Here are five simple tips on how to improve wellbeing and communication by changing how you start and end each day and week positively. Shared by Robin Davis on Twitter. -
Content ArticleRacism is unacceptable and it has no place in health and care. But we know that it exists and that the impact on staff can be devastating. All registered professionals have responsibility under the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Code to challenge discriminatory behaviour, creating an environment where people are treated as individuals and with dignity and respect. This resource is firmly rooted in our professional Code and it is designed to support nurses, midwives and nursing associates, providing advice on the action you can take if you witness or experience racism. It also supports those in leadership roles to be inclusive leaders. This document provides practical examples of how, as nursing and midwifery professionals, you can recognise, and challenge racial discrimination, harassment, and abuse. It also highlights other useful resources and training materials that will support you to care with confidence. This document is a resource for individuals at all levels. This resource does not replace existing NHS England policies and procedures for speaking up and managing racism. It is a resource to support best practice in line with organisational policies and procedures.
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Content ArticleLocum GP Manjula Arora was given a month’s suspension by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MTPS) in May 2022 after a complaint to the General Medical Council (GMC) that centred on whether or not she had been promised a laptop by her employer. The ruling was overturned and the GMC conducted a review of the case that found that a legal test around dishonesty was incorrectly applied. The two co-chairs of the GMC review highlight some of its recommendations in this opinion piece in the BMJ. They argue that while the NHS is very diverse, it is not very inclusive and that structural racism affects the treatment of and opportunities available to staff from different cultural backgrounds. They call for greater compassion and cultural competency in the GMC, and for healthcare services to manage concerns on a local level before referring cases to the GMC.
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Content Article
Blog - Long Covid: A catalogue of shame (2 November 2022)
Patient-Safety-Learning posted an article in Blogs
In this blog, Roger Kline, Research Fellow at Middlesex University Business School, highlights the lack of support from the Government and NHS that healthcare staff with Long Covid face. He looks at the impact of the Government’s decision to scrap extended sick pay for NHS staff with Long Covid and argues that healthcare workers deserve better support. The blog includes accounts from 31 NHS nurses and midwives with Long Covid; some are having to use annual leave as they cannot work their full hours and some have been threatened with redundancy. Others describe their experiences of phased return to work and applying for the NHS Injury Allowance or ill health early retirement. -
Content ArticleThis editorial in BMJ Quality & Safety examines literature that looks at the negative side effects of quality improvement (QI) approaches and initiatives, arguing that QI can contribute to staff burnout, stress and reduced engagement. The authors make a number of recommendations for avoiding the negative side effects of QI.
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Content ArticleWhistleblowing is crucial to a free and open society. The APPG Whistleblowing is committed to bringing forward root and branch reform that protects every person from the mistreatment whistleblowers are currently subjected to. The whistleblowing manifesto aims to bring forward these reforms. The Bill will establish the Office of the Whistleblower to ensure that every citizen is protected, that legitimate concerns are investigated, and that those people and institutions are prosecuted when they breach the law.
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Content ArticleAppreciative Inquiry (AI) is a research approach that aims to create practical and collaborative change by taking participants through an in-depth exploration of their organisation, team or role. This article in the European Journal of Midwifery reflects on the process of using AI in a study that explored staff wellbeing in a UK maternity unit. The authors share key lessons to help others decide whether AI will fit their research aims, and highlight issues in its design and application.
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Content Article
Psychological safety Padlet board
Patient-Safety-Learning posted an article in Culture
Psychological safety refers to creating and maintaining an environment in which members of a team feel able to speak up without fear of negative consequences. It allows healthcare professionals to take the interpersonal risks needed to engage in effective teamwork and to maintain patient safety. This Padlet board set up by Becky Thomas is a place to post resources and articles related to promoting psychological safety. -
Content ArticleThe aim of this paper is to raise awareness of the impact menopause is having on the workforce, as well as to issue recommendations and help healthcare organisations, managers, and employers to better support health care workers so that they do not leave the workforce or suffer in silence if they struggle with managing menopause symptoms.
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Content ArticleThere are over 850 Freedom to Speak Up guardians in NHS primary and secondary care and independent sector organisations, national bodies and elsewhere who work to ensure workers can speak up about any issues which have an impact on their ability to do their job. For Speak Up month, the National Guardian Office find out more about the people behind the role in the 'Stuck in a lift' interviews.
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News Article
Nurses are working the equivalent of one day a week for nothing, research says
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Nurses are working the equivalent of one day a week for nothing, according to a study. Researchers from London Economics were commissioned by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) to look at pay in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland since 2010. They found that the salary of an experienced nurse had fallen by 20% in real terms, based on a five-day week. Experienced nurses in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland would need a nominal pay rise of 45% by 2024-25 just to return their salaries to levels seen in 2010-11 in real terms, the research said. And such a pay rise would actually help the NHS save money in the long term, as it would be cheaper than hiring staff from overseas, according to the study. Dr Gavan Conlon, who oversaw the research, said that bringing staff in from overseas costs approximately £16,900 more annually than retaining a nurse, while using agency workers costs around £21,300 more per year. He said that about 32,000 nurses leave the NHS every year, many due to the failure of their pay to keep up with the rising cost of living. The RCN is balloting its 300,000 members for strike action, calling for higher pay and an effort by government to fill the hundreds of thousands of nursing vacancies across the country. Read full story Source: Sky News, 28 October 2022 -
News ArticleA new report published by the NHS AI Lab and Health Education England (HEE) has advocated for training and education for providers in how they deliver and develop AI guidance for staff. The report, entitled ‘Developing healthcare workers’ confidence in AI (Part 2)’, is the second of two reports in relation to this research and follows the 2019 Topol Review recommendation to develop a healthcare workforce “able and willing” to use AI and robotics. It is also part of HEE’s Digital, AI and Robotics Technologies in Education (DART-ED) programme, which aims to understand the impact of advances of these technologies on the workforce’s education and training requirements. In the previous report, the AI Lab and HEE found that many clinicians and staff were unaccustomed to the use of AI technologies, and without the suitable training patients would not be able to experience and share the advantages. The new report has set out recommendations for education and training providers in England to support them in planning, resourcing, developing and delivering new training packages in this area. It notes that specialist training will also be required depending on roles and responsibilities such as involvement in implementation, procurement or using AI in clinical practice. Brhmie Balaram, Head of AI Research and Ethics at the NHS AI Lab, added: “This important new research will support those organisations that train our health and care workers to develop their curriculums to ensure staff of the future receive the training in AI they will need. This project is only one in a series at the NHS AI Lab to help ensure the workforce and local NHS organisations are ready for the further spread of AI technologies that have been found to be safe, ethical and effective.” Read full story Source: Health Tech Newspaper, 25 October 2022
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Content ArticleThis research is a collaboration between the NHS AI Lab and Health Education England. Its primary aim is to inform the development of education and training to develop healthcare workers’ confidence in artificial intelligence (AI).
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Content ArticleIn this opinion piece for The BMJ, David Oliver, consultant in geriatrics and acute general medicine, highlights the findings of three recent reports into the growing crisis in social care: Falling short: How far have we come in improving support for unpaid carers in England? (The Nuffield Trust) The state of the adult social care workforce in England 2022 (Skills for Care) The Cost of Caring: Deprivation and Poverty among Residential Care Workers in the UK (The Health Foundation) The reports evidence a lack of support for unpaid carers, growing vacancies in the sector and a high proportion of the residential care workforce living in poverty and food insecurity. David Oliver highlights that in spite of Government promises, there is still no feasible, future-proof plan to protect social care and its staff.
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News Article
NHS staff struggling with menopause choosing to leave
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
The NHS faces an “exodus” of female doctors who are struggling to work due to a lack of menopause support, a report has warned. The Medical Protection Society, which helps doctors in legal and ethical disputes, said that many quit or reduce their hours over fears that their menopause symptoms, such as brain fog, insomnia and hot flushes, will cause them to accidentally harm patients. A survey found that 36 per cent of female doctors have considered reducing their hours because of menopause symptoms, while one in five have considered early retirement. “With females making up most of the healthcare workforce, it is crucial that they can access the support they need to avoid an exodus from the profession,” the report said. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 26 October 2022 -
Content ArticleThey play a vital role in society, but workers in adult social care – who are mostly women – are among the lowest paid in the UK and experience poor working conditions. This report by The Health Foundation analyses national survey data from 2017/18 to 2019/20 to understand rates of poverty and deprivation among residential care workers in the UK. It then compares these rates to other sectors including health, retail, hospitality and administration. The analysis demonstrates that: over a quarter of the UK’s residential care workers lived in, or were on the brink of, poverty. Nearly 1 in 10 experienced food insecurity. Around 1 in 8 children of residential care workers were ‘materially deprived’, meaning they may not have access to essential resources such as fresh fruit and vegetables or adequate winter clothing. the prevalence of poverty and deprivation in residential care is similar to hospitality, retail and administration. But residential care workers experienced much higher rates than most workers – and were at least twice as likely to experience poverty and food insecurity than health workers. Their dependent children were nearly four times as likely to experience material deprivation than children of health workers. The report highlights that political and economic conditions have changed since the data they looked at was collected, meaning that the situation is likely to have worsened for many social care workers. The poorest households in the UK are being disproportionately affected by sharp rises in inflation and poverty is set to increase. The report also highlights chronic underfunding in the social care sector, particularly in England, and calls on the new Government to make it a priority to ensure social care workers are paid fairly.
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Content ArticleNHS England’s Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) sets out the NHS’s approach to developing and maintaining effective systems and processes for responding to patient safety incidents for the purpose of learning and improving patient safety. A Patient Safety Specialist in the North East of England has shared their 'plan on a page’ with the hub to help others prepare for the implementation of PSIRF. You can download the attachment below. Further reading: Applying the After Action Review for the PSIRF – some real life examples
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Content ArticleThis report sets out the impact the Point of Care Foundation’s programmes have had on people who use and deliver health and care services, in its mission to humanise healthcare.
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News Article
Doctors furious at NHS bosses’ TikTok video showing off gleaming offices
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A video of an NHS trust’s flamboyant head office complete with a £1,000 coffee machine, sleeping pods and a “great view” has triggered fury from doctors and nurses. Barts Health, which covers hospitals in east London as well as St Bartholomew’s in the City, shared a TikTok video of its corporate office in Canary Wharf. The video, which has since been deleted, showed a luxury coffee machine, “wellbeing rooms” on each floor, free snacks and curved computer screens. However, doctors working at Barts reacted angrily and compared the video with their own facilities. One junior doctor shared a photo of a cramped locker room in the same trust. They wrote on Twitter: “Bags on the floor as ‘no lockers available for juniors’. This tiny room is the entirety of the space available to get changed into mandatory uniform/scrubs – nightmare at shift changeover.” Another shared a picture of their “handmade rest facility” – a row of chairs with paper towels for a pillow. The British Medical Association’s Junior Doctors Committee said it was “sobering” to see the “no expenses spared” approach in the trust’s corporate office. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Telegraph, 11 October 2022 -
Content ArticleThe workforce is healthcare’s most precious resource. Hospitals and health systems are committed to supporting mental well-being and improving access to behavioural health screenings, referrals and treatment when the workforce needs it. This new American Hosptial Association guide, Suicide Prevention: Evidence-Informed Interventions for the Health Care Workforce, identifies three drivers of suicide: stigma, limited access to behavioural health resources and treatment, and job-related stressors. The guide offers a curated list of 12 evidence-informed interventions that hospitals and health systems can implement to reduce the risk of suicide among healthcare workers. Hospitals and health systems should choose the interventions and metrics that work for their organisation based on their own needs and available resources to customise a pathway to suicide prevention for their employees.
