This is Us - feedback to action

This is Usfeedback to action

This is Us - feedback to action

Welcome

Welcome to the This is Us - feedback to action special edition.

Here you can find out about the range of improvements across the hospital that we have made together in response to your feedback in last year's NHS Staff Survey. Please take the opportunity to focus on our progress, across the hospital and within your division.

Thank you to everyone for your commitment - we each have a voice that counts and it is with your support that we can achieve even more this year

Best wishes

Lance McCarthy Chief executive

Ogechi Emeadi

Director of people, organisational development and communications

The NHS Staff Survey is aligned to the People Promise...

It is a promise we must all make to each other - to work together to improve the experience of working in the NHS for everyone.

This is Us - feedback to action

Working as one team...making it better, together

Over the last year, we have worked together to make significant improvements to your experience at PAHT.

Health and wellbeing

y Opening of the Alex Lounge – a quiet break space and agile working area for you all (pictured, right). This bright, modern area has a range of amenities (including a quiet area, free tea and coffee and air charging points). You are also continuing to benefit from the fantastic space at Kao Park

y Introducing This is Us Week, to recognise and celebrate you, our amazing #PAHTPeople

The programme included a variety of activities and events (pictured bottom right) including new annual This is Us: Our Amazing People Awards, a summer BBQ, ‘meet our teams’ opportunities and interactive games with our board

y Continuing our focus on health and wellbeing by appointing a Trust Wellbeing Guardian at board level and health and wellbeing champions, holding wellbeing induction sessions, and line managers' induction sessions for health and wellbeing. Improving the working lives of junior doctors is a key area of this work. We have also strengthened wellbeing conversations with you, including increasing awareness of the support available. This has featured promotion of national wellbeing events, such as National Hydration Week, in which free breakfasts and drinks were provided. Additionally, we are supporting our staff networks and equality, diversity and inclusion groups with their wellbeing agenda

y Enhanced support for colleagues who are experiencing the menopause, including a new policy, menopause awareness training and working towards the menopause friendly accreditation

y Ensuring that you are aware of the psychological support available. This includes the Here for you service, employee assistance programme and Mental Health First Aiders

By completing your survey, you are supporting us in delivering the people promise: ensuring that we are compassionate and inclusive, recognised and rewarded, safe and healthy, always learning, working flexibly, and working as a team. Please share your feedback - we each have a voice that counts.

y Continuing our focus on health and safety, including at induction

y Raising awareness of the local and national benefits available for you using the Total Reward System on ESR and the discounts that can be accessed on Vivup

This is Us - feedback to action This is Us - feedback to action

y Increasing flexible working opportunities. We also have supportive policies for emergency childcare needs, as well as maternity leave, paternity leave, adoption leave and shared parental leave policies

y Supporting your physical health, including by increasing the range of food options that can be accessed 24/7, promoting the My Health My Way wellbeing website and behavioural coaching, and access to Apps to support better quality sleep. Other support includes NHS weight management services, an online activity portal, smoking cessation services, and the new referral pathway for musculoskeletal services, Physiomed. We also have a long-term condition pathway for long Covid and menopause, created as an integrated care system (ICS)

y Access to financial support, including additional financial support for colleagues from bands 1-7 or equivalent in response to the rising cost of living, working with the local food bank where required, and promoting financial wellbeing webinars and information

y We have appointed a Lead Freedom to Speak Up Guardian, Lindsay Hanmore, supporting you to raise concerns and to reach a resolution

y Thanking you for your hard work and dedication, we have provided a range of initiatives this year, including sharing Costa Coffee vouchers, and free ice cream for all during the heatwave

Learning and safety culture

y Opening of the Learning and Education Centre, including a new library and digital learning hub space (pictured below)

y Refresh of our staff networks to promote equality, diversity and inclusion in how we work together, including the Race Equality and Cultural Heritage Network (REACH) and the Disability and Wellbeing Network (DAWN)

y Introduction of an inclusive career development programme - we are working in partnership with the Integrated Care System (ICS) on this programme to support our people

Leadership and management

y This is Us workshops to introduce managers to the new management practices and leadership promise and how these should impact management style

y A wider range of people manager training options being developed/made available to support management capabilities e.g. inclusive recruitment training sessions for hiring managers, people policies and processes training

y PAHT 2030 Ready development programme, building capability and skills of senior managers to lead and engage teams through change

y The ongoing development of a new managers' development programme

Staffing and workforce planning

y Enhanced rates packages made available

y Careers clinics to support your development

y International nurses' support for this vital area of our team

y Leadership restructure across divisions to ensure consistent and stable leadership teams driving strategy and operations

y Refreshed continuing professional development (CPD) application process to better support ensuring the development of skilled and capable teams

y We are recruiting more colleagues, with more #PAHTPeople joining us soon

y Refreshed onboarding programme for a smooth and supportive start for new colleagues

y Culture huddles within teams to create a specific space for open and honest conversations about what working in our teams feels like

y Embedding of our new values (patient at heart, everyday excellence and creative collaboration) in how we work e.g. this is now linked with appraisal conversations

y New Alertive system – on demand messaging for operational alerts

y We are working to improve your experiences of poor behaviours that do not align with our values, with support from the people team and organisational development team

y New Extranet, AlexNet – all of the information you need at the click of a button, with features including workspaces for teams and services, easy to locate policies and procedures, event and noticeboard listings and more, available from any device, wherever you are

This is Us - feedback to action

Across our divisions...

Our teams have been working on achieving their improvement plans in response to your feedback, with some great examples to share.

You said... and we did:

Clinical support services

y A staff experience group is now running, looking at survey findings and gathering ideas on increasing membership

y Listening events/virtual drop-ins have been introduced to share and action feedback

y Culture huddles are in the process of being introduced e.g. pathology, outpatients, and operations

y Walkabouts are planned to be introduced, with dedicated senior management team visits to teams on all sites

y Informal drop-ins have been arranged across a variety of departments/ sites so that our people have the opportunity to share feedback and meet leadership teams and colleagues

Your feedback... urgent and emergency care

This is Us - feedback to action

Family and women's services

y We are planning to roll out the professional midwifery advocate programme and an increase in provision of mental health support

y We are recruiting to fill vacancies and we are implementing the staffing recommendations from the Ockenden report, including a review of our workforce to identify any further gaps. We have now completed this midwifery staffing review and received investment from the trust to fund this, which includes additional midwifery, specialist and support worker posts

y

We are completing a paediatric staffing review to ensure we are recruiting the people we need

y

We are sharing serious incidents through the FAWS Teams channel for learning purposes

y

We have increased the visibility and awareness of safety champions

y We are supporting increased awareness of Freedom to Speak Up Guardians and their role, together with sharing different ways of speaking up

y We have regular whole unit meetings to support our teams and we are continuing the Ask Giuseppe feedback sessions

y We have appointed a wellbeing and retention midwife

y We are further developing the careers clinic to support the development of our people

y We are ensuring everyone has an annual appraisal which is meaningful

y Managers are focusing on increasing immediate, supportive feedback conversations

y We are reviewing the divisional structure to ensure high quality leadership across the division

Your feedback... medicine

"This year in particular it felt as though the results from the medicine staff survey were more important than ever due to what staff have endured over the last 2-3 years. I feel we have been listened to and that the sense of urgency to make changes was felt by the management teams."

Urgent and emergency care

y We have held listening events facilitated by quality first within the emergency department (ED)

y We have held drop-in sessions around psychological support

y We have begun work on our ED clinical strategy and have system wide engagement in this event

y We are reviewing all of our temporary staffing requirements and actively recruiting to areas where there are vacancies

y We have regular team meetings

y We are supporting our people to develop through mentoring and coaching

y We are reinvigorating the triumvirate visits to clinical areas

y We are working with NHS Improvement on a series of culture events with the ED team

Medicine

y We are making weekly triumvirate visits to clinical teams to practically support unblocking day-to-day challenges

y We are supporting line managers with ideas and capabilities around managing in difficult times

y No meetings Fridays have been implemented for the operations team and are being rolled out across others areas as much as possible

y We are offering coaching support to team leaders

y y Culture huddles have been fully embedded to support our people

y A talent pool succession plan has been created for all operations, nursing and clinical posts to identify our next leaders

y We are working towards all specialties finalising their clinical strategies and sharing across the division and a divisional vision and model of care

"We now have regular registered mental health nurses (RMNs) as part of our workforce in the emergency department, which not only improves the care we provide to our mental health patients, but also provides additional support to the nursing team in the department and reassurance that staff with the right skills are looking after the right patients.’’

This is Us - feedback to action

y The triumvirate team are now holding conversations with individuals around the appraisal process and its effectiveness

y

Key performance indicators for recruitment for managers have been introduced to ensure that the time from receiving a resignation letter to issuing an advert for a replacement is reduced

y We are analysing temporary staff usage in teams where they have vacancies to ensure there is active recruitment in the pipeline

y We are holding exit interviews with leavers and the triumvirate team to support feedback and improvement

Your feedback... surgery

"The structure is now in place which has made everyone feel more settled. We have regular team meetings and senior staff are all very approachable. Star of the Month is well received by all of the team in my office. There is an enormous amount of work for all, but there is a good team spirit with all willing to help or just be a supportive ear. "

Surgery

y We are developing staff liaison officers across the division for colleagues to raise concerns and feedback with the triumvirate

y We are promoting the mental health support available

y We have introduced staff awards for surgery - monthly for team and individual

y Leading by example - a commitment from the senior leadership team to not send messages out of hours about work related matters to promote work/life balance and reduce stress. We are also ensuring work mobiles for managers stay at work out of hours

y We are commissioning a physiotherapist to be allocated to areas on a rolling basis or staff group for musculoskeletal support in the workplace

y We are introducing careers clinics once a month for our people, led by a member of the senior management team

y We are promoting Datix recording in relation to violence and aggression (only 60% of our people reported incidents on Datix)

y We are introducing a new governance structure via sub-division performance review meetings with matrons allocated to each area to support communication

y We are promoting how to raise a concern for our people

y We are providing line manager guidance for carrying out effective 1:1 meetings with team members

y We are reintroducing leadership team walk arounds each fortnight and we are refreshing the divisional monthly forum

y We are carrying out a review of staff appraisals to audit effectiveness

y We are running a masterclass in application of the sickness policy for non-COVID related absences contributing to staffing gaps

This is Us - feedback to action

y We are completing a workforce review in each sub-division and long-term strategic planning

y We are increasing oversight from senior leadership on vacancy data at departmental level, which is shared via sub-divisional performance review meetings

y Managers are streamlining meeting attendance to enable more time for colleagues to work on tasks, including a meeting free Friday once a month

y We are integrating physical working space to ensure shared working with medical, nursing and operational teams

Estates and facilities

y We are ensuring regular 1:1s are scheduled with line managers and colleagues, we have increased face-to-face manager support, and we have introduced regular team meetings at all levels

y We are actively involving Freedom to Speak Up Guardians with group meetings

y We have introduced clear action plans within teams, as we listen to our people. Feedback on actions is provided at the following meeting

y We are increasing senior management team visibility to all estates and facilities colleagues and engaging with staff on the 'shop floor', with a fortnightly site walkaround

y We are actively encouraging our people to apply for continuing professional development (CPD) funded courses to support progression

y

We are benchmarking ourselves within our Integrated Care System (ICS) and nationally to understand training opportunities available to support our people

y

We are ensuring managers access appraisal training as and when required and we are ensuring our people are actively engaged and understand the importance of a meaningful appraisal

y We are ensuring concerns and ideas that are raised are acted upon and communicated back to the teams, encouraging a culture of collaboration

"It’s a pleasure to work at Kao Park, it's such a friendly and inspiring workplace. We have seen so many really engaging improvements. Thank you so much and please keep up the good work." Your feedback...estates and facilities

This is Us - feedback to action

Corporate

People, organisational development and communications

y Each team lead is ensuring colleagues have protected time in their diaries for breaks and workload management

y Each head of service is to set up peer meetings across the division to enable shared learning and development

y We are making giving feedback an active part of 1:1s and team meetings and appraisals

y We are giving colleagues the opportunity for projects which will support their development

Digital technology and information

y Daily huddles and weekly team meetings are in place to help share roles, responsibilities and workload

y Culture huddles have been held with our teams

y Guest speakers and learning are included in team meetings

y 1:1 meetings are being conducted to discuss concerns and support our people

y An online training tool is now in place to support continued professional development for all members of the team

y Statutory and mandatory training and appraisals, together with development courses, are supported for all of our people

y We are carrying out ongoing recruitment to vacant positions

y We are ensuring that staff rotas are completed in a timely manner

y We are promoting training on hiring and managing talent

y We are capturing and sharing compliments

y We have introduced opportunities for our people to support electronic health record training across PAHT

y We are enhancing skills in prioritisation/time management, communication, leading with kindness, and handling challenging situations through targeted learning

y Lunch breaks are being planned into diaries (ongoing) and meetings have been shortened to allow for breaks between

y We are embedding an open door policy for all managers

y We are reviewing/exploring opportunities to improve the way we work with our operational colleagues, including how we track our most clinically urgent patients

This is Us - feedback to action

Nursing and quality

y We will establish an inclusive listening programme with the senior leadership team that ensures the voice of our people is heard

y We are focusing on resetting and enhancing delivery of care and team working through the delivery of a Fundamentals of Care Programme

y We are embedding a ward accreditation programme with at least 50% of wards attaining Pace accreditation status

y We will re-establish and promote networks within and across teams and departments to enable professionals to reconnect and re-engage

y We are developing the role and capacity of professional nurse/ midwifery advocates, ensuring all of our people have access to clinical supervision by the end of 2023

y

We are commencing reciprocal mentorship for the senior leadership team

y We are piloting a chief nursing officer (CNO) fellowship programme

y We are developing our clinical leaders of the future, engaging with and developing the leadership capacity of our band 6 colleagues through co-production of a bespoke leadership programme

y We are continuing the review of specialist professional roles to maximise their contribution to the professions and provide career opportunities

Finance

y We now have bi-weekly team meetings in place, where we update on what is happening at PAHT, listen to guest speakers, and where our executive directors have met with the team, explained what they do and shared understanding and knowledge

y Following the previous year's work with organisational development (OD), we have held follow up sessions with OD leads for our team to feedback on the measures taken as part of the updated action plan

y Tom Burton, finance director, holds monthly surgery sessions where people can take time to share any issues that they wish to raise. The outcome of this has included an increased presence of Freedom to Speak Up Guardians

y We have held an away day (pictured above), facilitated with OD, and have begun work to develop a targeted action plan

y We have commissioned a review of training needs within the department and each section head is proposing the needs for their areas, which we are consolidating into a revised action plan for the whole department