NHS Forth Valley Workforce Commitments

Everyone Matters

NHS Forth Valley Workforce Commitments

The NHS is dependent on our hard working staff and the high quality of care they provide. The challenges the NHS is facing is well documented throughout the NHS Forth Valley Healthcare Strategy and our Partnership Strategic Plans, these challenges demonstrate the fact that the status quo is not an option. Attracting and retaining a workforce with the skills to deliver the highest quality services is essential. We will continue to demonstrate that NHS Forth Valley is a good place to work, where the workforce is supported to deliver the best possible care.Enabling a healthy organisational culture and a sustainable and capable workforce with effective leadership, is supported by the iMatter Staff Experience Improvement programme. This provides a tool to gather feedback and use this to improve the experience of staff. The iMatter programme is associated with the NHS Scotland 2020 Workforce Vision: “Everyone Matters”.

As we deliver the transformational change set out in our 2016 Strategy, we need to ensure that our staff are supported to take on new roles and develop new skills. At present, many of our specialists are accustomed to working in the acute hospital environment. In order to deliver services which are more focused on community settings, specialists will need to work in a more integrated way, across the community and our hospitals.

To implement the healthcare strategy, future workforce needs will be reviewed whilst recognising challenges such as the age profile of our staff groups, recruitment, training and education. Assessment of future needs, including delivering enhanced community based teams and addressing challenges in a number of acute specialties, will enable appropriate staffing levels and skill mix to be determined.

To support the trend in caring for people in community settings, moving away from distinct acute and community teams will be necessary. More staff roles with generic skills plus additional specialist skills (extended roles) will be developed to enable people to become more independent. Community based care supported by multi- disciplinary teams, will require effective team working, which values the contribution of all disciplines. Teams will work together in more integrated ways across health and social care.

Delivering modern healthcare requires the workforce to have excellent skills in listening and communicating, for example further developing staff communication skills at the end of life. This will be underpinned by the development of leadership skills and quality improvement through lifelong learning and supported by the use of technology.

It is NHS Forth Valley’s intention to:

•Ensure that our staff are supported to take on new roles and develop new skills.

•Recruit and retain a top quality workforce trained to the highest standards and working with the local community.

•Review future workforce needs, whilst recognising challenges such as the age profile of our staff groups, recruitment, training and education.

•Address challenges in vulnerable acute specialties to enable us to determine appropriate staffing levels and skill mix.

•Support AHP and nursing services to make speedier decisions regarding assessment, reporting and discharge planning, with assessments undertaken in the patient’s own home.

•Work across health and social care and with the voluntary and independent sectors to implement the changes described in the Healthcare Strategy and Strategic Plans.

•Adopt more flexible working patterns to enhance community services at evenings and weekends and move towards more seven day working.

The following pages provide some case studies of some of the work being taken forward to deliver the Everyone Matters priorities and demonstrate NHS Forth Valley’s commitment our Workforce.

Case Study 1: Managers Values Toolkit

Case Study 2: Values Based Customer Service Skills

Case Study 3: Going for Gold

Case Study 3: Megan’s Story

Case Study 1: Managers Values Toolkit

A new Manager’s Values Toolkit has been created to help those who lead and manage staff, demonstrate these values and ensure they are embedded in ways of working. The toolkit contains a wide range of resources including information on:-

• Our values and behaviours for success
• Values based induction
• Values posters for use in your team/service
• How to give feedback and celebrate behaviours that demonstrate our values in action
• Handling difficult conversations
• Values based meetings
• Email protocol
• iMatter action plan
• PDPs
• Values prompt cards (to identify one value that you as a team, want to focus on for the day, and then see what difference that makes to your day and that of your service users)
• A case study of how the Community Dental Service has embedded our values in their ways of working, and the impact it has had

The toolkit can be accessed on the Everyone Matters section of the NHS Forth Valley Staff Intranet and 100 copies of the toolkit and our Values Prompt Cards have already been distributed to managers and leaders all over the organisation. These are in daily use and we are already printing more sets due to demand.

Case Study 2: CUSTOMER SERVICE CHAMPIONS

Twenty staff members from NHS Forth Valley are in the first cohort taking part in two new customer services Programmes or acting as ‘learning buddies’ for participants.

As part of Everyone Matters, a short life working group was set up to identify what training was currently available in customer service skills and to look at the best way of providing different levels of knowledge and skills training for staff across NHS Forth Valley who have a role in delivering high quality ‘customer service’

The Programmes will initially run as pilots and there are two options currently available. The first involves delegates participating in a one day face-to- face interactive Values Based Customer Service Skills programme. The programme has been designed for/with NHS Forth Valley and providing the pilot is successful, it is anticipated that we can deliver this in-house via designated Customer Service Champions.

The second option works with Customer Service Professional (CSP), through Renfrewshire council, to offer two levels of online customer service skills training. Candidates will complete an online accredited programme, supported by a Workplace Buddy, at either Award (SCQF Level 5, SQA Level 2) or Certificate (SCQF Level 6, SQA Level 3).

NHS Forth Valley is one of the first local boards to pilot this programme. An induction day took place at Forth Valley Royal Hospital where the staff members were introduced to the course by Chairman Alex Linkston, who is a keen advocate of excellence in customer service, and also Michael Moran and Stacy Hays, from Renfrewshire Council who are the course facilitators.

Case Study 3: GOING FOR GOLD

With Investors in People Silver Award already under its belt, NHS Forth Valley is going for Gold!

One of the ways we will measure if we are achieving our workforce aspirations and our Everyone Matters priorities.

This will involve the Investors in People (IIP) assessor visiting NHS Forth Valley for three days and meeting with randomly-selected staff members to discuss their experience of how the organisation invests in the development of its staff and services. This feedback is then assessed against the IIP standard to consider whether or not we can demonstrate that we are able to meet, or exceed, the nine indicators in the performance model contained in the Standard below.

We are undertaking our review over three years from 2016-18 and will receive feedback following each assessor’s visit, we will get feedback on what our staff think is working well and on what the organisation needs to improve. Over the next few years we will try to make sure the suggestions are achieved to reach gold standard.

The review plan is:

Year 1 2016 – Acute Services

Year 2 2017 – Community Services

Year 3 2018 – Corporate and Support Service

Case Study 4: Modern Apprenticeships

NHSForthValleyiscommittedtoprovidingemploymentand trainingopportunitiesforyoungpeople.FollowingasuccessfulrecruitmentcampaignforourBusinessAdministrationModernApprenticeshipScheme,14traineeshave takenuppostsinthefollowingdepartmentsacrossNHSForthValley:

Recruitment, PublicHealth, HealthRecords, ClinicalOffices, Transport, MedicalPhysics, RiskManagement, OccupationalHealth, Transport, Travel and Finance

Alltraineesareundertakingaprogrammeof study with Forth ValleyCollegetogainaSVQLevelIIinBusinessAdministration.

Megan’s Story:

Thesuccessofthisschemeillustratesthebenefitsofpartnershipworkingwithuniversities, collegesandothereducationalestablishments.ItishopedthattheschemewillcontinuetogiveyoungpeopletheopportunitytoenjoyarewardingcareerintheNHS.WearealsoindiscussionwithourthreecouncilpartnersaboutprovidingshortertrainingplacesundertheEmployabilityFramework.