The Department of Health Top Employer for the NHS Constitution commitment on personal development, training and management support.
The Department of Health Top Employer for the NHS Constitution commitment on staff health, well-being and safety.
The Department of Health Top Employer for the NHS Constitution commitment on staff engagement, empowerment and partnership working.
The Department of Health Top Employer for demonstrating the NHS Values.
NHS South Essex Partnership University Foundation Trust
South Essex Partnership virtually sweeps the board for the NHS Constitution awards, winning the NHS awards for three of the four commitments and also for values.
It’s an incredible achievement for the forward thinking trust, which seems to be able to provide very high quality care at the same time as motivating and engaging staff from boardroom to bedside.
So how does it do it?
It starts with recruitment: the trust actively tries to recruit staff who share its values and ethos. Job applicants fill in an online questionnaire on their values and those shortlisted answer questions about how they would behave in certain situations. The information on these is available to the interview panel.
This values based recruitment is designed to ensure that recruits share the trust’s philosophy around patient care – and this is reinforced during induction training, when all staff undergo customer care training.
But from then onwards the emphasis is on empowering and engaging staff and helping them to achieve their potential. The trust offers a wide range of training courses, some of which are university accredited. Many are available online to increase their availability (the trust operates out of 50 sites) and to give staff maximum flexibility regarding when they do them.
“We have courses for assistant practitioners that enable people who have entered with no qualifications to get to that level,” says Karen Hussey, assistant director of human resources.
“They can then go on to study to become an occupational therapist or a nurse. We have examples of people who have moved through the organisation in this way.”
This is backed up with an appraisal system that involves teams as well as individuals. Almost every staff member is appraised – managers get 360-degree appraisals – and this is linked to a training and development plan. Teams are also given objectives.
Staff are also well supported to live healthy lives and to maximise well-being – something which has been on the trust’s agenda for many years. Its “shape your life” programme offers staff information and the chance to try activities, as well as health checks.
There’s a strong commitment to occupational health, a staff counselling service and person support line for staff and their families. The organisation recognises that working in mental health can be draining, and is working on staff resilience to help them cope with distressing events.
The organisation also listens to its staff and engages them in helping to make decisions and form policies. There are good relations with the unions, and regular communication with the staff. Quality awards are designed to recognise and celebrate all members of a team who improve services, and sometimes involve patients and carers as well.
The trust has recently taken over another and is providing services in Bedfordshire and Luton; despite this major change, the recent staff survey showed very high levels of satisfaction.
“Engagement is just part of all the things that we do,” says Karen Hussey. “It’s just part and parcel of what we do.”
The Department of Health Top Employer for the NHS Constitution commitment on clear roles and responsibilities and rewarding jobs that make a difference
NHS Tees
NHS Tees is the top NHS organisation for the NHS Constitution commitment on roles and responsibilities for staff and whether they feel they have rewarding jobs.
The commissioner only primary care trust is an umbrella body for four separate PCTs and works out of three locations. It beats many other organisations where staff have “hands on” jobs delivering healthcare, often associated with staff satisfaction.
Over the last 15 months it has run two events designed to help staff understand their roles and how they fit into the broader organisation. These “Our plans, our people” events outlined the PCT’s strategy for improving the health of the population it serves, and what part staff would play.
“We make sure that people are competent to deliver our objectives and to ensure our staff are supported and developed to deliver their full potential,” says Barbara Broadbent, organisational development manager.
The organisation has a “realising potential” strategy, aimed at ensuring all staff get development opportunities. It “talent spots” individuals with a gift for leadership and offers them an emerging leadership course. All staff have access to an e-learning portfolio, offering training and development courses at all levels.
NHS Tees has revamped its internal communications, with staff now getting a weekly emailed newsletter. Staff receive letters addressed to them by name and the organisation tries to foster a sense of being small and personal. “Everyone is important in our organisation,” says Ms Broadbent.
Helping NHS organisations implement the NHS Constitution locally.
Working closely with the Department of Health, NHS Employers has developed an online toolkit to help NHS organisations embed the NHS Constitution locally. The toolkit includes powerpoint slides for staff inductions, poster templates and other materials.
See our NHS Constitution pages for more information.