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Showing results for tags 'Staff support'.
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Content ArticleAnnual NHS Staff Survey results show an average decline in those feeling optimistic about their career within the NHS. One area of concern, in particular, was the amount of NHS workers who felt they were not adequately recognised and rewarded. This poses a threat to the healthcare provider’s People Promise. As part of the NHS’ People Promise, one of the key values include: ‘we are recognised and rewarded. At a time when much of the NHS is suffering from staff shortages, it is vital to find solutions to boost employee morale. Following this report from Each Person, the NHS has highlighted two key areas that need to be addressed to combat staff dissatisfaction: continuing their advocacy for increased investment and support to raise staff numbers; and relieving points of pressure to foster a positive working culture across the organisation. Consequently, NHS trusts have taken positive steps to ensure that their employees feel more appreciated for their hard work through rewards and recognition.
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News Article
‘Overwhelmingly negative narrative must stop’
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
NHS England’s chief strategy officer has called for a “reset” of the current “overwhelmingly negative narrative” about the health service. Chris Hopson said there was a collective responsibility to present a more balanced picture, while still being honest about problems. The service should do more to emphasise successes, improvements and where there is good performance, he said. He acknowledged there were too many instances where good quality care could not be delivered due to current pressures on the service. But they were being addressed and improvements being made. “We need to make sure that our staff, our patients but also the taxpayers hear that more balanced narrative,” he said at the Ambulance Leadership Forum event on Wednesday. Ambulance services – whose response times have sky-rocketed, well beyond their targets, over the past 18 months – have been at the centre of much recent negative coverage. Mr Hopson argued that the constantly negative narrative was having an impact on staff – whose work was not being recognised – and creating a sense that the NHS was broken. “That narrative is partly being driven by opponents of the NHS and also [those] who want to attack the government,” Mr Hopson said, although he acknowledged that it also reflected genuine instances of staff and patient experience. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 8 September 2022 -
Content ArticleIn this blog, Bob Matheson, Head of Advice and Advocacy at the charity Protect, explains the case of Dr Chris Day and how it highlights the vital importance of reforms to UK whistleblowing law. Protect is campaigning for Reform of whistleblowing legislation in the UK. The author highlights loopholes in UK law that Dr Day has faced throughout his long legal battle with Health Education England (HEE). These gaps mean that whistleblowers lack certain important legal rights and protections, and this in turn may prevent individuals from raising concerns.
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Content ArticleScrutiny of NHS chief executive officers (CEOs) has tended to focus on the generally short tenure of their position. The implications of high turnover have been assessed but there has been limited research looking at CEOs who remain in post for long periods, whether in the same organisations or in multiple ones. This study by researchers from the University of Manchester draws on interview data collected in 2019 with 10 long serving CEOs in the English NHS, with an average tenure of 17 years.
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Content Article
Wessex LMCs Podcasts
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Recommended video and audio resources
Wessex LMCs podcasts share good ideas, challenge your thoughts and introduce you to interesting people and projects all to support you in your work in general practice. -
Content Article
Nuffield Trust: Safety culture in the NHS (25 August 2022)
Mark Hughes posted an article in Culture
A good safety culture in healthcare is one that includes value and respect for diversity, strong leadership and teamwork, openness to learning, and staff who feel psychologically safe. In this article the Nuffield Trust use data from the NHS Staff Survey to look at safety culture in the NHS. -
Content ArticleThis study in BMJ Open examines the impacts of the four episodes of industrial action by English junior doctors in early 2016. The authors looked at the impact of the strikes on A&E visits, outpatient appointments and cancellations, admitted patients and all in-hospital mortality. The study concluded that industrial action by junior doctors during early 2016 had a significant impact on the healthcare provided by English hospitals. It also found that t here were regional variations in how these strikes affected providers, and that there was not a measurable increase in mortality on strike days.
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Content ArticleThe Government's Race Disparity Unit has published data relating to NHS staff reports of discrimination at work. The charts, tables and commentary on this page cover survey data from 2019, and the data from 2020 is available to download without commentary. 300 NHS organisations took part in the staff survey in 2019, including 229 NHS trusts.
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Content ArticleThis is the witness statement submitted by the claimant at an employment tribunal between Dr Chris Day and Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust. Dr Day's claim is based on his belief that the actions of the Trust irreparably damaged his medical career and had a significant impact on his job security and other areas of life. The document contains Dr Day's statement about the following events: Misrepresenting the substance of the protected disclosures Misrepresenting formal investigation findings Cost threat detriments Events post-settlement Impact of the case on Dr Day and his family
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Content ArticleThis webpage highlights press coverage of the Chris Day whistleblowing hearing which took place in June 2022. Dr Day's case originates in 2013, when he initially raised concerns about unsafe staffing levels at Woolwich Hospital ITU, run by Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust. Following this, senior management in the Trust made allegations about his conduct, he believes as a result of his whistleblowing action. As a result Health Education England (HEE) deleted Dr Day's training number, meaning he was unable to progress to become a consultant. Dr Day has been campaigning for a public hearing of the case since 2016, and believes HEE, Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust and other authorities have spent large amounts of money attempting to 'crush' his case and prevent it from being heard. The tribunal hearing finally took place in June 2022 and featured revelations about Trust staff deliberately deleting emails relevant to the case, partisan briefings made to senior NHS management about Dr Day and inaccurate press statements from the Trust.
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Content ArticleWelcome to the being better together podcast, from Learning from Excellence and Civility Saves Lives. This podcast from Learning from Excellence and Civility Saves Lives is a series of conversations with people who inspire us, about making healthcare a better place to work. It covers a wealth of topics, from workplace cultures, through inspiration, laughter and joy, to appreciative inquiry and how do work safely.
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Content Article
NHS East London: Enjoying work project posters
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Good practice
Here are some useful projects that NHS East London teams from each directorate took part in as part of demonstrating what they have learned from Cohort 3 of the Enjoying Work Learning System. -
Content Article
15 seconds, 30 minutes: Creating joy in work
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Good practice
15 seconds 30 minutes (or 15s30m for short) aims to help anyone identify how they could spend a few extra seconds on a task now which will save someone else 30 minutes or more later on. In doing so you will reduce frustration and increase joy. Joy in work has been proven to help staff to do their best and deliver safe and effective patient care. Improving joy is the key to retaining the workforce and reducing staff sickness. And who doesn’t want to enjoy coming to work every day! 15s30m is a change platform which individual staff or patients or whole organsiations can use to release the value in every idea. To get started you don’t need a charter or formal plan or programme initiation document: its just individuals being empowered to do what they know is right for staff and patients. -
News Article
Ysbyty Glan Clwyd: Stroke patients would rather go to England
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
People would rather go to England if they had a stroke than use the A&E at a north Wales hospital, a health watchdog has said. Inspectors said there was a "clear and significant risk to patient safety" after inspections at the department in Ysbyty Glan Clwyd, Denbighshire. North Wales Community Health Council's Geoff Ryall-Harvey said it was the "worst situation" they had seen. The report said inspectors found staff who were "working above and beyond in challenging conditions" during a period of "unrelenting demand". Many staff told them they were unhappy and struggling to cope. They said they did not feel supported by senior managers. However inspectors said that the health board was not fully compliant with many of the health and care standards, and highlighted significant areas of concern, which could present an immediate risk to the safety of patients, including: Doctors were left to "come across" high-risk patients instead of being alerted to them. Patients were not monitored enough - including a suspected stroke patient and one considered a suicide risk. Children were at serious risk of harm as the public could enter the paediatric area unchallenged. Inspectors found evidence of children leaving unseen or being discharged against medical advice. Betsi Cadwaladr health board said it was committed to improvements. Read full story Source: BBC News, 8 August 2022 -
Content ArticleThe UK has fewer hospital beds than almost any other European comparator and we can ill afford any loss of hospital capacity. While Covid has undoubtedly worsened performance, crowding in emergency departments was a problem before the pandemic. There are frantic attempts to shore up battered and fragile rotas and rota coordinators are scratching their heads. Meanwhile there has been a steady increase in the number of staff off work with Long Covid. While many have been flexible and accommodating to try to maintain their services, there is increasing burnout and uncertainty as to when all this will end. The workforce needs to feel valued and supported, writes Adrian Boyle, a consultant in emergency medicine. There needs to be an acknowledgment that the system is broken.
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Content Article
Joy in work: presentation from Julia Wood (22 July 2022)
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Culture
Presentation from Julia Wood given to the Patient Safety Manager Network (PSMN) on the importance of finding joy and happiness in work and how you can support your staff. -
Content Article
The NHS whistleblowing crisis (8 February 2022)
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Whistle blowing
Tommy Greene and David Hencke report on a number of worrying NHS dismissal cases in this Byline Times article. -
News Article
NHS leaders warn that social care workforce crisis risks patient safety
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
NHS leaders across England say staffing gaps and a lack of capacity in social care are putting the care and safety of patients in the NHS at risk. Almost 250 NHS leaders responding to an NHS Confederation survey say that patients are being delayed in hospital much longer than they should, with the knock-on impact resulting in higher demand on A&E departments and longer ambulance response times. More than 9 in 10 NHS leaders warn of a social care workforce crisis in their area which they expect will get worse this winter. Nearly all NHS leaders say the lack of capacity in social care is putting the care and safety of patients at risk. More than four in five warn that the absence of care packages for people to be able to return home or be moved into a care home is the main reason why medically fit patients are stuck in hospital longer than they should be. Almost all NHS leaders say that the most impactful solution would be better pay for social care staff and want the Government to increase investment in social care as a priority. An acute trust executive director in the South West accused the Government of presiding over a “national scandal.” “If the social care capacity shortfall was solved then we would not be holding ambulances at all, we would have almost no problems with elective recovery and our emergency departments would not be crowded and unsafe,” they said. Another acute trust chair in the East of England added: “The result of using nearly 20 per cent of our beds for patients who are medically fit but need packages of care to return home is an overcrowded A&E, twelve-hour trolley waits and much delayed ambulance handover times. The connection is very clear to us…Until we find a solution to social care staffing and funding, the situation can only get worse.” Commenting on the survey results Lord Victor Adebowale, chair of the NHS Confederation, said: “Decades of delay and inertia have left social care services chronically underfunded and in desperate need of more support. “NHS leaders stand alongside their sister services in social care in wanting a rescue package for the sector. They are sounding the alarm and sending a clear message to Government that the social care system has not been ‘fixed’." Read full story Source: NHS Confederation, 28 July 2022 -
News Article
Speaking up ‘still not business as usual’, national guardian warns
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Whistleblowing is still not ‘business as usual’ and leaders must take action after an unusual drop in the proportion of staff viewing their organisation as having a positive speak up culture, the national guardian for freedom to speak up has said. Speaking to HSJ, Jayne Chidgey-Clark highlighted some “really concerning” findings from the National Guardian’s Office’s most recent survey, both about speak up culture and the wellbeing of the freedom to speak up guardians. The NGO survey found a 10 percentage point drop in freedom to speak up guardians agreeing senior leaders supported workers to speak up, dropping from around 80% to 70% between 2020 and 2021. She also highlighted an increase in FTSU guardians reporting staff had experienced “detriment” for speaking up within their organisation. Ms Chidgey-Clark, a nurse by background who took up the role last December, said it was the first time the National Guardian’s Office had seen a drop on this question since the survey began in 2017, and that it also “chimed” with the latest NHS staff survey. She added: “Workers are saying the same thing, and that’s really concerning. And it will be even more concerning if we see a similar trend next year. It’s almost like an early warning sign to leaders." Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 28 July 2022 -
Content ArticleThe National Guardian’s Office has published its latest annual speaking up data, which summarises the themes and learning from the speaking up data shared by Freedom to Speak Up guardians.
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Content Article'The Staff Support Guide: a good practice resource following serious patient harm' was launched at Parliamentary reception on 29 June 2022. View the presentation about it from Patient Safety Learning and the Safer Healthcare Biosafety Network at the recent Network meeting.
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Content ArticleAfter 12 years of brutal service, Neil Barnard, an NHS emergency medicine consultant, is leaving his NHS post to work abroad. His decision to leave is driven by financial and personal reasons. More than anything, he says he's tired and has little more left to give to the NHS.
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Content ArticleThis article in the Nursing Times Long Covid series discusses how nurses are at high occupational risk of Long Covid and how best to support them.
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Content ArticleDavid Oliver is a consultant in geriatrics and acute general medicine who has worked in the NHS for 33 years. In this blog, he talks about his personal experience of running covid 'hot' wards during the different waves of the pandemic, describing the toll working in these conditions has taken on the health of him and many of his colleagues. He highlights the impact of looking after dying patients without adequate PPE, informing family members of patients' death over the phone, being responsible for many more patients than usual and witnessing colleagues die from Covid-19. The result has been burnout, mental health issues and low morale for a workforce that was already stretched before the pandemic hit the UK. David finally caught Covid-19 himself in March 2022 and he talks about how the virus—plus the cumulative effect of working under such strain for over two years—has meant he is not able to work and has been signed-off sick since mid-May.
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Content Article
In this blog, student midwife Sophie Dorman describes some of the issues that have led to a chronic shortage of midwives, including a culture of fear, poor pay and conditions and a lack of basic facilities for maternity staff. She highlights the impact this is having on the safety of maternity services and argues that valuing and looking after midwives will make pregnancy and childbirth safer and better for everyone.
