1CONTENTS UPLEVELLINGIMPACTREPORT LEVELLING UP
2 CONTENTS
3CONTENTS Contents01 RtForewordHonAnne Milton UniversityForeword Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM) 02 The Journey to the Levelling Up Goals 03 The role of UHNM and the NHS in meeting the Levelling Up Goals 04 UHNM’s activities benchmarked against the Levelling Up Goals 05 Analysis 06 Recommendations
All of us were reminded of the important role it plays in protecting the health of the nation and the incredible work the NHS workforce performs every day. The pandemic’s effects, however, were not felt Thoseequally.living in the most disadvantaged communities were the hardest hit by the economic, health and social effects. These disparities in experience follow patterns that have been set long before the pandemic and they cannot be ignored any Healthlonger.and wellbeing are intrinsically linked to other kinds of inequalities and must be addressed alongside these other societal issues.
Former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health
This report goes on to benchmark UHNM’s activities against the Levelling Up Goals, assessing where it is meeting the goals and the areas where it might make even more impact on its employees, its patients and the wider communities it serves.
Treating over 2 million patients a year for a variety of physical and mental health reasons, UHNM is of course working towards Goal 8 Good health and wellbeing. But its reach is much wider than that.
01
One area where the Trust is innovating is with its outreach into local communities to improve the oral health of local children. Its work in partnership with Stoke City Football Club is proving so successful that it is being adopted across the country.
As one of the largest employers in the area it is in a great position to contribute towards Goals 3 (Positive Destinations Post 16+), 5 (Open Recruitment) and 6 (Fair Career Progression).
The positive news is that there is a growing consensus across the public sector, businesses, universities, government, civil society and other institutions that these inequalities require action to level up Britain. NHS organisations can play a key role in levelling up society. University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM) recognises this and is already taking proactive steps to widen its role within the community.
4 FOREWORD
ForewordThelastcoupleofyearshavebeenavividreminderforallofusofjusthowvaluabletheNHSis.TheCOVID-19pandemicforcedallofustomakesomeofthemostsignificantday-to-daychangesinourlifetimes.
Rt Hon Anne Milton
We have a huge responsibility and it is not one which we take lightly. Not only are we a large employer attracting people from across the globe, we provide healthcare services across a wide regional geography. We want to play our role in boosting opportunities across the region, work with partners to improve the aspirations of people living and working in our diverse communities and tackle some of the longstanding health issues facing local people.
Tracy Bullock Chief Executive of University Hospitals of North Midlands
The focus here at University Hospitals of North Midlands is to improve the quality of health and life for the people we serve, to promote the health and wellbeing of our dedicated workforce and play an active role in our communities to address health inequalities.
5FOREWORD
By turning the spotlight on our Levelling Up journey we will continue with the work we have already started at pace. Our role as a Cornerstone Employer and our Project Search partnership seeks to increase the numbers of Supported Internships for young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and this work is already resulting in fulltime job opportunities. Working with schools and young people to improve oral hygiene, our Keep Stoke Smiling campaign has been picked up nationally as we seek to make the schools in our region fizz free. Whilst we can report many successes, there is still much for us to do and we are by no means complacent. As part of delivering against our commitment to Levelling Up we will forge new partnerships and engage widely and play our role in promoting a diverse, sustainable and inclusive society.
many of the problems relating to social inequality in the UK. The recovery is a chance for the United Kingdom to address these issues and level up but that requires updated and specific goals in order to outline, inspire and measure progress. The Purpose Coalition aims to improve social mobility in the UK and has responded to this challenge with the launch of their own Levelling Up Goals in February 2021.
6 THE JOURNEY TO THE LEVELLING UP GOALS
In 2017, the SDGs were made more ‘actionable’ by a UN resolution adopted by the General Assembly which identified specific targets for each goal, along with indicators used to measure progress towards each target. These 17 interlinked, global goals were designed to be ‘a blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all’. They marked a shift from the previously established Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000. In contrast to the MDGS, the SDGs were nationally-owned, country-led and targeted wealthy, developed nations as well as developing countries. The SDGs emphasised the interdependent environment, social and economic aspects of development by centralising the role of sustainability.
In 2015, as Secretary of State for International Development, Justine Greening MP led the UK delegation to the United Nations (UN). Along with 184 international partners, she helped to establish the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
02
The Journey to the Levelling Up Goals
As Secretary for State, Justine recognised how useful a common set of accessible but ambitious objectives could be in galvanising action to effect change. Since then the COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated
These new Goals build on the foundations laid by the UN’s SDGs by outlining 14 clear goals, and draw on expertise provided by academia and businesses which has been applied to the unique challenges facing the UK in levelling up. They focus on key life stages and highlight the main issues that need to be resolved in order to create a level playing field for all in this country. The Levelling Up Goals are intended to guide how the urgent ambition to level up the UK can actually be achieved. The impact of the work carried out to do this can, and should, be measurable.
7THE JOURNEY TO THE LEVELLING UP GOALS
If Britain is to achieve levelling up, I believe that we need a galvanizing set of goals that unite Parliament, business, communities, and civil society to work in partnership for the common good of our country.
Sub-goals with quantifiable targets and measurements against which progress can be charted within the 14 goals are being developed in partnership with Purpose Coalition partners. This will create a more transparent and measurable framework with which to monitor and subsequently address problems of social mobility and inequality.
PostdestinationsPositive16+3 schoolSuccessfulyears2infoundationsStrongEarlyYears1 Right advice and experiences4 Fair progressioncareer6recruitmentOpen5 Good health and well-being8savingsaccessWideningto& credit 7 Closing the digital divide10enterpriseExtending9 Building homes & communitiessustainable12forInfrastructureopportunity11 Achieve equality, through diversity & inclusion 14transitiontheHarnessenergy13
Crucially, these Goals are a shared framework. Justine and the wider Purpose Coalition, of which UHNM is a key member, believe that with a common understanding and objectives, there can be action that drives change on the ground. Distinct entities, including universities, businesses, NHS Trusts, councils, policy-makers, communities and NGOs, can work together, with the shared Goals being a uniting and motivating foundation for progress. As the problems which cause social inequality in the UK are interlinked, it seems that the response to these problems must also be collaborative.
The Purpose Coalition has encouraged businesses, universities and public sector bodies to share their own best practice with other organisations so they are not only demonstrating their own commitment, but creating a shift towards being purpose-led.
The Goals can encourage an extension of this cooperative exchange of information which can be used to help level up Britain.
The Levelling Up Goals are designed to look at the outcomes of CSR strategies and measures that organisations operate. Many organisations are doing outstanding work and making important contributions to society but are still measuring this via inputs – a measure that focuses on pounds, shillings and pence rather than real impact to human lives.
THE ROLE OF UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS OF
8
MIDLANDS
The role of the NHS NHS organisations can, and do, make a real and sustained difference to create positive change for their workers, patients and society at large. These organisations are central to their local communities and they can be accessible institutions that reach out to everyone. As COVID-19 exacerbated existing health inequalities and created a huge burden for the NHS, these organisations will also need help from elsewhere to recover and strengthen, just like the rest of the country. However, as one of our most wide-reaching and cherished public institutions, the NHS will be essential in leading the way by leveraging its position in communities and its size and power as an employer and organisational entity. In doing this, it can help level up the UK. NORTH
03
The role of University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust and the NHS in meeting the Levelling Up Goals
The Levelling Up Goals provide an ambitious and strategic solution to addressing the challenge, setting out for the first time the gaps that will need to be filled to ensure opportunity and fair outcomes are available to all across the country. The goals offer a common framework with which organisations can collate best practice and show impact across all of the key life stages and areas of concern. They provide the shared language needed to collectively discuss the challenges of levelling up and the solutions to existing inequalities. That ambition should apply to one of the country’s most important and impactful institutions, the National Health Service. Of course, the NHS in its day-to-day function makes an enormous contribution to the public and individual good of the UK. As a commissioner and provider of healthcare, the NHS can target services and outreach to address directly the inequalities that exist in health outcomes and experiences, especially among those who suffer most under other forms of social or economic exclusion. Health and wellbeing are vitally important to the function of a happy, prosperous and equal country. NHS organisations have a much wider reach than just health and many, rightly, now see themselves as important anchor institutions within their communities. Aside from the obvious health impacts, there are other aspects of the levelling up agenda that the NHS is well placed to help address. The NHS is the largest single employer in the UK, as of September 2021 there were 1,205,362 NHS Hospital and Health Service staff, with jobs ranging from healthcare provision, information technology, administration and health policy. Its predominance in the employment market can be used to increase social mobility and spread opportunity throughout society. By providing employment and career progression on such a large scale, the NHS makes a vital contribution to the economy, labour market and the available opportunities for individuals across the country. The NHS can help ensure that it makes the best use of the incredible talent the UK has to offer by providing many people with worthwhile careers that contribute to the social good. In its healthcare provision, organisation and information outreach, the NHS also has a sizable digital presence. COVID-19 has accelerated the digital transformation and NHS trusts now interact with patients and staff more than ever before. A Health Foundation report found that of those who received NHS care or communicated with the NHS in 2020, 97 per cent used technology and 82 per cent of NHS staff surveyed said they had used technology more in the past year. It is therefore in both the NHS’ interests and capabilities to contribute to making this transition fair and Likewiseaccessible.thetransition to a green and net zero economy has also accelerated. As it is such a large institution with large estates, efforts made by NHS organisations to use more renewable energy to run their services more sustainably will have a substantial impact. For example, in October 2020 the NHS adopted a multiyear plan with targets and milestones to become the world’s first carbon net zero national health system by NHS2040.organisations can have a wider impact on the economy through how it procures goods and services. Overall, the NHS has a budget of £130 billion. This spending power and its significant economic levers gives it real potential to ensure its extensive supply chains and procurement processes aid in the green recovery and social good more generally. The NHS is held in high regard by the public and communities all across the country. Its presence in every region and community in the UK means that it can influence and speak up for those places and communities that might be at risk of being left behind. By utilising the voice, reach and reputation of the NHS, organisations like UHNM can truly act as anchor institutions to level up the regions in which they operate. The levelling up agenda simply cannot be achieved without the participation of the National Health Service. NHS organisations are in a unique position to combat some of the barriers to upward social mobility that exist in the UK, and they have to be part of the solution. UHNM has already embarked on that journey and, as part of its work with the Purpose Coalition, will be working towards even more transparent and measurable outcomes.
9
THE ROLE OF UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS OF NORTH MIDLANDS
“NHS organisations have a much wider reach than just health and many, rightly, now see themselves as important anchor institutions within their communities.”
UHNM works from two main sites - Royal Stoke University Hospital, located in Stoke-on-Trent, and County Hospital, located in Stafford.
The trust’s goal is to be a world-class centre of clinical and academic achievement, where its staff work together to ensure patients receive the highest standards of care.
The trust employs around 11,000 members of staff and provides specialised services for a population of around 3 million, including neighbouring counties and North Wales.
UHNM has created a 2025 Vision that sets out a long term strategy and its plans to become a successful, competitive partner in the healthcare economy. The vision has been set in the context of national and international trends in demography, technology and globalisation, but is firmly rooted in the plans of the local health community in Stoke-On-Trent and Staffordshire.
The trust’s plans moving forward are closely aligned with the wider NHS health strategy, which seeks to move care closer to people’s homes, increase patient choice and develop regional models for specialist services.
While provision of healthcare is obviously the main priority, these objectives reflect a desire to act as an anchor institution and have a wider impact on Thissociety.report sets out the details of UHNM’s comprehensive and innovative work against the relevant Levelling Up Goal areas.
The role of University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust
THE ROLE OF UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS OF NORTH MIDLANDS
University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM) provides a full range of general hospital services for approximately 1.1m people locally in Staffordshire, South Cheshire and Shropshire.
10
UHNM’s Strategic Priorities are: Providing safe, effective and caring services. Providing efficient and responsive services. Creating a great place to work. Achieving excellence in development and research. Leading strategic change within Staffordshire and Ensuringbeyond.weget the most from the resources we have, including staff, assets and money.
THE ROLE OF UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS OF NORTH MIDLANDS
“We have really enjoyed delivering the pilot KSS project and the Trust would welcome a further discussion on how we can continue to provide key health education messages in the future.”
The first part of the project was focused on educating Key Stage 2 pupils in North Staffordshire schools about the importance of dental health. This was achieved through workshops in local schools led by UHNM Consultant Orthodontist Karen Juggins. Toothpaste was also delivered to several charity groups, including The Macari Centre, House of Bread in Stafford and Foodbank Stoke who all support the most vulnerable members of the community.
The campaign has been so successful that it is now being replicated more widely across the country with Keep Britain Smiling. The campaign uses social media platforms - Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Tiktok - and celebrities such as Peter Crouch to get its message across.
Each child completed post workshop surveys which proved they understood all the oral health messages with common comments being:
The UHNM Charity and Stoke City Community Trust partnered together to distribute thousands of tubes of toothpaste kindly donated by Colgate. Through education, over a 10-week period both charities set out to provide young people and the wider community within Staffordshire key information they need to make their own decision on what food and drink they consumed, and how it can have a positive impact on their dental health for life.
‘I am never going to take coke or lemonade, or milk to Teachingbed.’resources were left in every school and all classrooms had a QR code poster for easy access for teachers to be able to explore further information or download resources.
Case Study 11
In just 10 weeks 33 oral health workshops were delivered in 25 partner schools, distributing bags to over 2,000 young local people. These figures would have been significantly higher without covid restrictions.
‘I am always going to “spit and not rinse”
Adrian Hurst, Head of Community at Stoke City Football Club said: “We use a variety of the Football Club's assets and interventions to help transform the lives of (young) people both on and off the pitch.
Keep Stoke Smiling
The Keep Stoke Smiling campaign has been running since 2018 to combat the levels of tooth decay seen in young people across the region.
‘I am 100% never, not ever “going to drink red can coke”.
In 2021 a pilot campaign was run as part of Keep Stoke Smiling to create a fizz free culture within schools in the region.
Project SEARCH
Interns and buddies are supported by Newfriars staff throughout the week.
UHNM provide a classroom base and staff facilities, where students are based Monday to Friday, with their teacher and job coach. Students spend 45 minutes every morning studying functional English and preparation for adulthood.
Interns complete three different work placements over the academic year (one per term), and are greatly supported by their teams and supervisors onsite.
THE ROLE OF UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS OF NORTH MIDLANDS
After completing their initial UHNM and departmental inductions, students spend from 10am – 3pm in their supported internship placements, with their ‘buddies’ from UHNM and Sodexo; these are staff who have been specially selected to help students learn the job roles, and model expected work behavior.
Interns return to the classroom base each day from 3pm-3.30pm, for a de-brief, where they can reflect on their day and discuss their progress, or any concerns they may have.
UHNM is open to any young person aged 18-24 with an Education, Health and Care Plan (E.H.C.P). Prospective students are identified by local education providers, or can apply independently. Students work in non-clinical support roles, such as portering, retail, catering, domestics and transport.
12
Case Study Project SEARCH
13
William Nock, one of the youngest porters in the trust, took part in Project SEARCH with his twin brother Conrad.
Louise Durose, Portering Manager, said: “As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, William saw his internship interrupted back in March, but he returned to site in June as a fully-fledged member of staff. He has worked throughout this difficult time and has had such a positive impact on all who have come to know him. We have seen his confidence grow and develop over the last few months, along with his general ability and his interpersonal skills. He is a bubbly, caring and compassionate member of staff and a pleasure to work with.”
THE ROLE OF UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS OF NORTH MIDLANDS
Whilst the majority of students have successfully secured paid employment, we have also supported others into further education or voluntary roles, according to their personal circumstances.
Since the start of the programme in 2018, UHNM has supported 26 young people with special educational needs and disabilities on-site, including through the difficulties of the pandemic and subsequent educational lockdowns. So far, 17 students have graduated, with a further 7 on the current programme.
14 UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS OF NORTH MIDLANDS NHS TRUST’S ACTIVITIES 4. University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust’s activities benchmarked against the Levelling Up Goals 04 Many organisations have commitmentsstrong to traditional Corporate Social Responsibility and the ESG agenda. This section of this report will map several of UHNM’s specific initiatives against the Levelling Up Goals, to track where progress is being made and where efforts could be redirected or better targeted.
(See more information in section 3).
UHNM supports the national Career Ready Programme with some staff acting as student mentors and also sitting on the Career Ready Labour Advisory Board. Prior to the coronavirus pandemic UHNM delivered face-to-face sessions at hospital sites for students interested in various NHS Careers. Since then these have been delivered via MS Teams and include “Step into Pharmacy”, “Step into Nursing” and “Step into WorkingMedicine”.in partnership with the Careers & Enterprise Company, UHNM has designed a number of curriculum based STEM lesson plans for delivery across all secondary schools in Staffordshire.
15UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS OF NORTH MIDLANDS NHS TRUST’S ACTIVITIES
schoolSuccessfulyears2 Goal 2: Successful school years
It is important to note that it would be difficult for any one organisation to work effectively toward every single one of the Levelling Up Goals. As more organisations adopt the goals, it could be more efficient for individual organisations to focus on particular areas where they can make a real impact, rather than making a superficial impact across many goals. NHS organisations are perhaps in a better position than most organisations to make a real impact against all of the Goals. As anchor institutions within communities, the work of trusts does not begin and end with treating patients, they have a much wider role as big employers and purveyors of opportunity.
02 The Red Thread
Brilliant Brushers - a local toolkit that provides a collection of useful resources to help implement supervised toothbrushing in targeted early years and school settings across the West Midlands. The scheme is targeted at areas where there are high rates of tooth decay or high levels of deprivation in your local community.
Oral health initiatives Outreach into local schools
UHNM delivers “whole population health” initiatives, around Oral Health, Sleep and Hydration initiative at both secondary and primary levels.
UHNM staff deliver career talks at secondary level to raise the aspirations of the future NHS Workforce. The trust works closely with Staffordshire Careers Hub facilitated by the Careers & Enterprise Company; Staffordshire County Council and Stoke City Council, as well as local schools, colleges and universities.
A number of trust staff act as Careers and Enterprise Company advisors who work with the senior careers staff at schools.
Identifying that tooth decay is the most common oral disease affecting children and young people in England, UHNM has several initiatives to improve oral hygiene. The Keep Stoke Smiling campaign aims to combat the levels of tooth decay seen in young people.
The trust is a member of Stoke and Staffordshire Local Enterprise Partnership’s Skills Advisory Panel advising the Partnership on the application of its skills UHNMstrategy.isanactive member of the Stoke-on-Trent Opportunity Area and sits on the 16 - 19 sub group. The Opportunity Area was launched by Justine Greening during her time as Education Secretary in 2017 to raise education standards, providing every child and young person in the area with the chance to reach their full potential.
Over 400 work experience placements are offered per UHNMyear.works with Career Ready to offer mentor support.
The trust connects with local communities with a ‘get in’ to UHNM by offering a number of available routes including, work experience, volunteering, step into UHNM programme, a multitude of apprenticeship offers from business administration, healthcare support, pharmacy and nursing.
Goal 3: Positive destinations post 16+
The trust has been recognised by the Careers and Enterprise Company as one of eight ‘cornerstone employers’ who have committed to making a significant contribution to working with young people in schools in Stoke-on-Trent.
UHNM has one of the largest Foundation Programmes in the region with posts across five hospitals and numerous community sites.
Right advice and experiences4
The trust works in partnership with both Keele and Staffordshire Universities to deliver outreach UHNMprogrammes.workswith Staffordshire and Keele Universities and Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group and Stoke-on-Trent Colleges, to provide excellent placements for students and course opportunities for all our
UHNM sits on the board of the Building Better Opportunities programme that supports people with complex needs into employment.
UHNM currently has over 150 apprentices from ages 16 – 60+. The Trust employs a dedicated Learning Education and Widening Participation Team and a Care Coach team to help maintain working relationships with individual departments and support the upcoming workforce. Apprentices work across many different areas of the hospital and are able to gain experience and confidence as they develop their skills.
UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS OF NORTH MIDLANDS NHS TRUST’S ACTIVITIES
Apprenticeships
Purpose-built,staff.modern facilities at Keele University, Staffordshire University and UHNM help to attract the next generations of doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, healthcare scientists and support staff.
UHNM offers a range of apprenticeships including nursing assistant, pharmacy technicians and business administration.
Goal 4: Right advice and experiences
PostdestinationsPositive16+3
The programme is focused on improving early years education, english, maths and science outcomes, pupil engagement and the choices young people make from 16.
16
“The trust supports Veterans who may wish to transfer into careers within the NHS via the Defence, Step into Health scheme.”
UHNM has a talent management programme that identifies aspirational staff and supports them with their career development via apprenticeships, post-graduate educational courses and internal management development courses.
All clinical professions have open and transparent career pathways that demonstrate to staff progression routes.
UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS OF NORTH MIDLANDS NHS TRUST’S ACTIVITIES
Goal 5: Open recruitment Goal 6: Fair career progression recruitmentOpen5 Fair progressioncareer6
UHNM is part of the West Midlands Coaching collaborative which gives its staff access to qualified and experienced coaches from 37 organisations across the region. Within the trust there are also four experienced career coaches .
17
UHNM is a Gold Alumni member of the Armed Forces Covenant and also the Veterans Covenant.
UHNM supports the NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme. Staff that join the trust who do not have their english and maths qualifications are supported to achieve their functional skills.
UHNM supports local and National NHS Return to Practice
There is an Organisational Development team and Learning, Education & Widening Participation team based in The Academy at the Royal Stoke site which offers a wide range of services and opportunities to support staff, including career conversations.
UHNM has a “Gateway to Management” Silver, Gold and Platinum Connects leadership and management development programmes which are available to many staff to support them with their career journeys.
UHNM has clear policies and an understanding that staff should be given the correct tools to progress within the organisation. It provides staff with opportunities to learn, train and thrive not only in their existing role but also preparing them for the next steps on the career ladder.
Mentoring
A mentoring scheme and a reverse mentoring programme is available to support staff with their development needs.
The trust employs several staff members who are active members of the Armed Forces and Reservists or Armed Forces Veterans.
Recruiting under-represented groups
The trust supports Veterans who may wish to transfer into careers within the NHS via the Defence, Step into Health scheme and the MOD Career Transition Partnership (CTP) networks.
UHNM has signed up to the ‘Step into Health’ national programme, designed to help all ex-Armed Forces personnel, veterans and their spouse/partner to join the NHS. Developed in conjunction with The Royal Foundation and Walking With The Wounded, Step into Health provides a dedicated pathway for the Armed Forces community to access the numerous career opportunities available in the NHS.
Theprogrammes.trustruns a Nursing Assistant Apprenticeship programme that supports members of the community who want to change work roles.
A full calendar of health and wellbeing seminars is provided each month with over 400 staff accessing these opportunities.
UHNM takes the health and wellbeing of its staff very seriously, it actively supports staff understanding about how to improve their wellbeing.
The trust has a 24/7 Tea and Empathy Service giving staff the chance to listen, deliver peer support and signposting, as well as access to occupational health, physiotherapy and counselling services
The Trust approved a new digital strategy that looks at improving clinical safety, quality and efficiency from the adoption of technology. As part of the digital strategy the Trust committed to making patient records digital for patients and their carers to support self-care and improve communications, along with a programme to support the development of patient and carers digital skills.
UHNM will improve equality and inclusion through the use of a population health management system. This data will allow richer population health intelligence which in turn will support more inclusive care planning.
18
The trust has a dedicated room to help support patients with mental health problems who present in the Emergency Department at Royal Stoke. The room provides a safe space for patients and staff to engage on a one-to-one basis.
During the pandemic the Trust secured a number of ipads to ensure patient communication whilst visiting was restricted.
Goal 10: Closing the digital divide
The trust actively support the NHS 5 steps towards wellbeing with: Being Physically Active – Exercise. Learning new skills. Giving (to Connectingothers).withother people. (PayingMindfulnessattention to the present moment).
Mental health Closing the digital divide10
Goal 8: Good health and wellbeing Good health and well-being8 Mental Health Awareness Training is available throughout the trust and UHNM has a Mental Health Working Group. Staff have access to support provided by the People and Organisational Development Team and trained Mental Health Nurses. Access to the Staffordshire wide psychological wellbeing hub is also available for staff members to self-refer.
UHNM respects patient digital capabilities and is focused on removing barriers to receiving or engaging in their carer by use technology. For example electronic letter delivery can enable those with reading difficulties to use screen readers and patient held records solutions can be available in a wide range of languages.
UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS OF NORTH MIDLANDS NHS TRUST’S ACTIVITIES
19
The community fund is spent on alleviating fuel poverty for those identified as being vulnerable in Staffordshire by UHNM.
UHNM has a state-of-the-art breast screening unit in the community. A team of radiographers and assistant practitioners run the service from Kidsgrove, performing mammograms on women aged 50 to 71 that have had a referral from their GP. The unit cost more than £300,000 and was funded by NHS England and Improvement with the ability to upgrade the screening machine as technology advances.
UHNM has a Sustainable Transport Working Group which looks at ways to reduce the carbon footprint of travel within the trust. This includes working with local partners on bus routes and e-bike schemes, as well as changes that the trust can implement such as EV charging points and cycle to work schemes.
Over £300,000 was raised from investors in the local and wider community to fund the installation of over 1,000 solar panels on the roofs of buildings across the UHNM estate. Buying the electricity generated by the PV panels reduces demand on the grid and gives UHNM cheaper, more resilient supply.
The trust also has a lung screening mobile unit out in the community.
SSCE receives income from feed in tariffs and from UHNM for the electricity. This facilitates a return for the investors, and a surplus which accumulates into a ‘community fund’.
Expanding healthcare infrastructure
Goal 11: Infrastructure for opportunity forInfrastructureopportunity11
UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS OF NORTH MIDLANDS NHS TRUST’S ACTIVITIES
Goal 12: Building homes and sustainable communities Building homes & communitiessustainable12
The trust is part of the Keep Warm, Keep Well scheme in partnership with Staffordshire fuel poverty charity ‘Beat the Cold’, Southern Staffordshire Community Energy (SSCE) and the community (shareholders). The scheme seeks to prevent readmissions of vulnerable patients whose health conditions are at risk of being exacerbated by living in cold and damp homes.
Work is in progress at the trust to understand its baseline contribution to Carbon Emissions in each of these areas to support planning and ensure accuracy when reporting against our trajectory to NZC.
It also notes three priorities: Reduce Environmental Impact. Build Healthy, Sustainable and Resilient Services and EmbedCommunities.Preventionand Sustainable Clinical and Care Models. The UHNM sustainability team is currently aligning to the new ‘Greener NHS National Programme’ by working to refresh the SDMP in order to ensure adherence to latest Green Plan guidance and Delivery Plans for the areas whereby NHS England have proposed direct interventions through compliance with the NHS Standard Contract Service Conditions (SC18).
20
This necessitates clear plans to address environmental issues such as air pollution, climate change, reduction of single use plastics, compliance with the national NZC targets and producing a regional ICS Green Plan (under development, to which UHNM is a key stakeholder and contributor) by March 2022.
The UHNM refreshed Green Plan will be a three year strategic approach (2022-2025) and will comprise the following focus areas; Workforce and System Leadership, Digital Transformation, Travel & Transport – supported by Travel Plans, Estates and Facilities (includes energy & water management), Capital Projects, Supply Chain and Procurement, Medicines (includes reducing emissions from volatile gas use, nitrous oxide waste and sustainable prescribing of inhalers), Food & Nutrition, Adaptation, Sustainable Models of Care and Green Space & Biodiversity.
UHNM has a target to be net zero carbon by 2050. UHNM refreshed its 2020-2025 Sustainable Development Management Plan (SDMP) ‘Our 2025 Vision: Our Sustainable Future’ at the start of 2020 at which time the National target was to achieve Net Zero Carbon (NZC) emissions by 2050.
In October 2020, NHS England published ‘Delivering a Net Zero NHS’, accelerating and disaggregating into two new National targets for the emissions trust’s control directly (80% emissions reduction by 2028) and Net Zero Carbon (NZC) emissions by 2040 and the entire emissions profile (80% reduction by 2036, NZC by 2045).
The vision of the SDMP is: ‘The Trust is committed to delivering a world-class sustainable healthcare system that works within the available environmental, financial and social resources; protecting and improving health now and for future generations.’
Goal 13: Harness the energy transition transitiontheHarnessenergy13
UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS OF NORTH MIDLANDS NHS TRUST’S ACTIVITIES
The Energy and Water Joint Working Group at UHNM aims to minimise the consumption, cost and environmental impact of energy and water provision across the trust.
LED lighting was installed in two phases, at both Royal Stoke and County Hospitals in 2016/17. This has led to a combined annual saving of £58k and 223 tCO2e.
A sustainable travel plan is in place for all sites across UHNM to provide a framework for achieving a sustainable transport mode shift and effective management of car trips to and from a site.
The Travel Plan is also aligned and supports the 7 Core Objectives of Staffordshire County Council’s 2011-2025 Local Transport Plan: Supporting Growth and Regeneration Maintaining the Highway Network Making Transport Easier to Use and Places Easier to Get Improvingto Safety and Security Reducing Road Transport Emissions and Their Effects on the Highway Network
21
Improving Health and Quality of Life Respecting the Environment
Installation of a Heat Recovery Unit at the Royal Stoke Energy Centre allowed for the capture and reuse of heat that would otherwise be wasted. The Heat Recovery Unit has led to annual savings of £183k and 1,202 tCO2e. The burners on the industrial sized steam and hot water boilers in the Energy Centre at Royal Stoke were replaced with state of the art equipment to increase efficiency and reliability. This led to annual savings of £106k and 580 tCO2e. Other smaller measures such as lighting controls, secondary glazing, motor speed controls and heating and ventilation controls have also been implemented to help with energy reduction.
Energy and water Sustainable procurement Sustainable travel plans
The Sustainable Procurement Working Group supports the Trust to deliver both service and behavioural changes to reduce the carbon footprint from its supply chain, i.e. the purchasing, transportation, usage and disposal of Trust items.
UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS OF NORTH MIDLANDS NHS TRUST’S ACTIVITIES
UHNM participates in a number of schemes to measure and improve the representation and experience of protected groups in the organisation. This includes the annual Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) and Workforce Disability Equality Standard (WDES), Disability Confident, Stonewall and more recently the NHS Rainbow Badge Accreditation Scheme (the trust is participating in the pilot).
Each of these have Chairs with dedicated time (2 days per month) and are supported by an Executive Board Sponsor.
Diversity and inclusion underpins much of the levelling up work taking place at UHNM.
UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS OF NORTH MIDLANDS NHS TRUST’S ACTIVITIES
Goal 14: Achieve equality through diversity and inclusion Achieve equality, through diversity & inclusion 14
UHNM has LGBT+, Disability and Long Term Conditions and the ethnic diversity staff networks. These networks actively engage and contribute towards ensuring equality, acceptance and inclusion within the Trust.
The trust also reports annually on the Gender Pay Gap and undertakes the Equality Delivery System (EDS) evaluation. These are reported via governance committees to the Trust Board and progress against the accompanying action plans is monitored at the Trust Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Group.
22
The aims of the network are to: Promote the interests of underrepresented groups at UHNM. Provide mutual peer support, encouragement, mentoring and coaching to staff.
Provide a place that gives staff an opportunity to network, organise events and socialise. Challenge discrimination and positively promote equality and inclusion.
Provide a place for staff to come together to share experiences and raise issues in a safe and confidential environment. Identify good practice and initiatives to promote and Improveshare.staff experience by contributing to policy development through consultation on new and revised Trust Policies.
Across the Health System there are system wide staff networks, which are open to all staff from the health and local government organisations in North Staffordshire. Staff networks
The trust is currently in the process of employing a number of Afghanistan refugees. Supporting those with a disability Ensuring equality of service delivery Recruitment and employment practices that encourage diversity
UHNM has an external internet site for people with Learning Disabilities to access blank ‘hospital passports’ and Easy Read information leaflets.
UHNM’s Recruitment Policy has been updated to reflect the requirements of ethnic diversity on recruitment panels for Band 6 and above vacancies. To support its commitment to increasing ethnic diversity in senior leadership roles UHNM has worked with health system partners in North Staffordshire in the delivery of a positive action leadership development programme - Staffordshire Stepping Up (now retitled New Futures) - for BAME staff in Bands 5–7.
One such initiative is Project Search. Since 2018, UHNM, along with Sodexo UK & Ireland, have been in partnership with Newfriars College, to provide Supported Internships for young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.
The trust has developed a Diverse Chaplaincy Team to meet the needs of its patients. There is an alert system in place which identifies patients with special needs.
UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS OF NORTH MIDLANDS NHS TRUST’S ACTIVITIES
As part of its role as a Cornerstone Employer UHNM is working with other local employers to develop a spectrum of initiatives that will support SEND students to access work experience, supported internships and ultimately jobs.
UHNM has started its 3rd cohort of Project Search and has a success rate of 84% of students securing employment. The project is a transition programme for local students with learning disabilities and Autism Spectrum Conditions. It is aimed at students who are motivated to achieve competitive employment. (See more information in section 3).
23
The trust also actively seeks diversity among applications for the High Potential Scheme for those in Bands 8A and above looking to develop into future Executive roles.
24 ANALYSIS
of North Midlands has a key role to play not only in the health but the overall lives of the communities it serves.
05
UniversityAnalysisHospitals
The trust’s work around oral health, through Keep Stoke Smiling, is particularly innovative and shows the impact that these kinds of initiatives can have. This initiative has gained great momentum across the region and is now being rolled out nationally.
Ifmeasures.wearetruly to level up health inequalities then it needs to be recognised that there are many wider determinants of health - such as education and housing - that need to be considered. Alongside their day-to-day job of making people better, UHNM is putting initiatives and projects in place that tackle these wider determinants.
25ANALYSIS
UHNM has policies and processes in place to ensure that recruitment is open to all, no matter their background, and that once employed career progression is available to all.
Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire more widely have been identified as social mobility coldspots where there is a lack of opportunities for people to get on in life. This makes the wider role of UHNM as an employer of more than 11,000 people even more UHNMimportant.has close links with local schools both to spread population health initiatives and to raise awareness of the job opportunities it can offer.
UHNM recognises its responsibility as an anchor institution and the wider role that it can, and must, play in the lives of people within Staffordshire and the surrounding area. Importantly this includes running or being part of innovative preventative health
In line with national targets, UHNM is also working towards a plan to be net zero carbon by 2050. Like all trusts, it is aware that this covers various aspects of operations - procurement, travel, estates - and has put in place the correct procedures, plans and groups to ensure it hits these targets.
UHNM’s outreach into schools to deliver careers programmes and raise the aspirations of the future NHS workforce is equally important. Its face-to-face sessions for those interested in NHS careers are extremely impactful and should be restarted as soon as possible if it is safe to do so.
The trust recognises that the pandemic has led to increased pressure on staff and that their health and wellbeing need to be looked after properly. Staff have access to various lines of support and should continue to be at the forefront of the trust’s strategy moving forward.
Another innovative project that puts UHNM at the forefront of the levelling up agenda is the Keep Warm, Keep Well scheme in partnership with others in the region. The scheme looks at the issue of fuel poverty and ultimately aims to prevent those with health conditions being at greater risk because of cold or damp housing.
The trust also connects with local communities, some of which have high levels of unemployment, with a ‘get in’ to UHNM programme. This offers various routes into working at the trust including work experience, volunteering and apprenticeships.
Embedding social value throughout the organisation will ensure that initiatives and projects promoting it will succeed.
06Recommendations
University1. Hospitals of North Midlands should continue to lead the way and expand the excellent work it is doing on spreading opportunity and improving equality of access to its services. Its Keep Stoke Smiling initiative has already been identified as best practice and rolled out in other regions. There are several other initiatives, including its work to address fuel poverty, which is having measurable social impact and should be promoted more widely.
26 RECOMMENDATIONS
It is clear that senior leaders are committed to spreading social value within the organisation but in order to get wide spread support this needs to be filtered down to all levels of staff and team leaders.
The2. trust should ensure that its social purpose is embedded right throughout the organisation.
The Trust could start by providing two placements a year and grow the programme. Working in partnership with local providers will enable the trust to build up a pipeline of talent coming through and grow the programme in the future.
Firstly; could this work experience be quantified better and candidate evaluation afterwards to assess its impact (in alignment with recommendation 3).
Secondly, is there, or could there be, a more formal way of keeping in touch with those who have done work placements - inviting them back for career days, notifying them of job roles and apprenticeship vacancies. Those who have undertaken work experience could be the workforce of the future and will already have an understanding of the Trust and how it works.
UHNM could both expand opportunities, and career progression through apprenticeships. An internal process could be introduced that before going out to external recruitment an attempt should be made to recruit an apprentice from the existing workforce, particularly from entry level roles.
27RECOMMENDATIONS
UHNM3. could introduce a consistent way of measuring the outcomes of outreach initiatives into local schools and communities. Time spent on outreach projects should be quantified and structured feedback could be collected to increase the impact.
There4. are a huge number of work experience placements at the trust at any point (with around 400 offered per year).
UHNM7. should have clear career pathways in place, both non-clinical and clinical, from entry level upwards. This should be made available to all staff from when they start employment - no matter what their role is.
UHNM8. should ensure, wherever possible within NHS guidelines, that procurement processes are in place to drive increase and spread opportunity. Ensure that social value procurement is included in all contracts above a certain amount - with conditions on those contracts to include local employment opportunities, number of apprenticeships offered and employment of disadvantaged groups, such as care leavers and ex-offenders. UHNM could learn from social value procurement best practice already out there, including the University of Northampton and its Waterside Campus build.
The6. Trust already has an extensive apprenticeship programme but even more could be done.
Collecting information on perceptions of outreach initiatives and what impact they had on attendees will allow projects to succeed.
Continue9. to collaborate closely with others in the region to create a place-based approach to increasing opportunity and reducing inequality.
The Purpose Coalition also works with Staffordshire University, which has these values at its core. UHNM could consider working more closely with organisations such as Mencap, DWP and YMCA, working alongside these organisations would ensure that the trust is having an impact on the most vulnerable in society.
UHNM5. could work with local further education providers and social services to offer opportunities for local care leavers - a group who are furthest from the workplace.
LEVELLING UP Proudly produced by This is Purpose