Heartbeat January 2019

Toby writes about…
employment and learning
TobyLewis_SWBH
TOBY’S LAST WORD
One of the proudest moments of my time
as your chief executive has been involving
myself, just a little, in the work we do to try
and create employment opportunities locally.
That endeavour is what this column is about.
But starting at the beginning, what matters
to improving health?
What you do, what we do with partner GPs
like Manir, Imran and James (who feature
in Heartbeat this month) what is done by
our colleagues in RAID, the Oak Suite and
CAMHS is hugely important. But if we want
to change the health outcomes and the
wellbeing of families and communities, we
know that healthcare is at best a third of the
programme. The other two parts are housing
and employment. Together they provide the
security to live and the basis for fulfilment.
That belief in housing, employment and care
as a three part mission is what animates our
local Healthy Lives Partnership. And what
drives the priorities that we are trying to set
alongside primary care network colleagues
in the local system. The NHS Long Term Plan
is an important and interesting document.
We all know it needs a social care green
paper and an NHS workforce plan to make
it truly credible, but to change outcomes,
we need to tackle housing poverty and
income inequality. The plan is not as brave
as it could be in that respect.
So we have our now longstanding projects
focused on homeless young people and
care leavers, which work to create dedicated
apprenticeships to support those most at
risk of falling through a social safety net.
I want to thank line managers who have
worked to support these young people, as
well as our Learning Works and learning and
development teams. We continue to see
those projects thrive, and we are investing
more right now to expand them further. We
have next step options around employment
access projects for ex-service people, often at
risk of homelessness and exclusion, projects
for those who have had mental health
issues, or still have mental health issues, and
work too to ease a path to employment for
local people with learning disabilities (led by
colleagues in our theatre teams). Every step
we take in these projects changes the cost
to the health service of those we assist, and
may too impact on the health and wellbeing
of their loved ones and dependents. The
cost of social exclusion and of poverty
is one paid over the long term, and
which we want to tackle with up-front
investment.
In terms of housing, our current focus is on
the Infirmary Wharf development which
will take shape at City Hospital when we
move out, and provide over 800 homes for
local people. Meanwhile, whilst the Hallam
building at Sandwell is doing a job for us
accommodating many colleagues, after
2023 we want it to be replaced by a housing
project and are working with partners to
secure that deal, which could add another
100 or more dwellings to the local area.
Across the country you can see NHS land
laid idle, for want of the vision to turn it into
homes that are needed. Around Midland
Met we are leading work to create the
development vision which will see not
only key worker housing, but a thriving
community with economic activity
established. This is our business, because
health depends on it. We are not just a
disease service.
In 2018 we were one of only two Trusts
in the Midlands to achieve the whole 2.3
per cent apprenticeship target set by the
Government. That is a massive tribute
to work by first line managers across
our organisation. It means over 160
apprentices in our midst. 13 colleagues
are our first to achieve the healthcare
support worker apprenticeship standard,
and three gained distinctions in their studies.
Right now we have 25 colleagues on the
new team leader apprenticeship programme
at level 3. And later this year our first nurse
apprentice roles will graduate, and we are
working hard to be ready for the same
programme in midwifery.
What lies behind that drive is a desire to
help shape careers not simply to recruit
to jobs. Last spring we tried to launch our
nurse escalator project. It relaunches this
month. Later this winter, we will kick off
work to formally create an escalator from
band 2 to band 3 for HCAs. If you have not
already joined up the dots we will have a
programme from band 2 to 3, via the new
band 4 role, and then one from band 5
to 6. We want to help high potential
people locally to move into registered
roles, and to progress their studies
and their ambition as far as they
want to go. Just as our director of
therapies started many years ago in an
apprentice role, there is no reason that a
future chief nurse could not start work
here as a HCA. To do that of course we
need to make some changes to how we
budget and manage jobs. That is why our
PDR changes were so important, and we
redo all our appraisals between April and
June 2019. That process spots the high
potential colleagues in our midst and
looks to speed up their careers and match
their ambition: Assuming of course you
have done your mandatory training (see
the letter with your payslip in January).
If you are reading this and want to
know more about the opportunities,
talk to your line manager, get in touch
with Bethan Downing, or contact me
direct. The only ring-fenced protected
budget in our Trust is the training
budget and it will expand yet
again in 2019-20. Our commitment to
employment and to creating rewarding
careers based in learning is one of
the things that is distinctive about our
organisation, one of the opportunities
we will share as new partners like our
GP colleagues join the SWBH family,
and something that is a basis for asking
people to work with and for us.
Learning though is not just about careers
or employment. It is also about how we
share knowledge inside the Trust. Right
now we are consulting on the welearn
programme, which will be a big part of
our 2019 efforts to share glimpses of
brilliance from across the organisation
and to make sure that we learn lessons
when things nearly or do go wrong.
Make sure in your February face to face
team meeting you put forward your
response to the TeamTalk topic and have
your voice heard. If in February there is no
team meeting where you work, do let me
know, or contact Ruth Wilkin, and we will
help you to have one!
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