Heartbeat September 2019
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
Speak up Day focuses on the<br />
Managers' Code of Conduct<br />
CORPORATE AND GENERAL<br />
NEWS<br />
Wednesday 11 <strong>September</strong> marked our<br />
second Speak up Day of the Year with<br />
the theme around the recently launched<br />
Managers' Code of Conduct.<br />
On the day we also hosted our first live radio<br />
debate in the Sandwell Hospital radio studio<br />
around the topic of speaking up. Guests<br />
included Toby Lewis, Chief Executive, Donna<br />
Mighty, Chair of the BME Staff Network, Chris<br />
Rickards, Trust Convenor, Kam Dhami, Director<br />
of Governance and Speak up Guardians Harpal<br />
Tiwana and Sandra Kennelly. In case you<br />
missed it, you can check it out on Connect.<br />
Ruth Wilkin, Director of Communications<br />
hosted the radio debate, she said: “It was the<br />
first time that we have held a live debate on<br />
the hospital radio station. It was great to see<br />
senior leaders and colleagues come together<br />
to discuss the importance of working in a<br />
place where speaking up is encouraged. The<br />
panel gave their views on the managers’<br />
code of conduct, sharing how they thought<br />
we could best ensure that managers abide<br />
by the standards. Listeners got involved by<br />
posting questions throughout the show and<br />
responding to live polls.”<br />
Speak Up Day also saw managers from across<br />
the organisation open their doors to team<br />
We held our first radio debate on Sandwell Hospital Radio<br />
members, holding drop-in sessions allowing<br />
individuals to raise concerns confidentially<br />
without fear of repercussions.<br />
Marie Perry, Non-Executive Director responsible<br />
for speaking up, held drop in session on the<br />
day. She said: “(Speaking up) is important as<br />
we want staff to feel they are able to raise<br />
concerns, be they personal circumstances,<br />
about patient safety, or any issue that affects<br />
them and the workplace.”<br />
Our Trust has a strong track record in<br />
encouraging people to speak up and there<br />
are a range of ways that you can do this<br />
including talking to your manager, contacting<br />
a Trade Union rep, raising an incident, writing<br />
to our <strong>Heartbeat</strong> letters page, talking to a<br />
Trust specialist such as Counter-Fraud, ringing<br />
Safecall (our confidential whistleblowing line),<br />
or getting help from a Freedom to Speak up<br />
Guardian.<br />
All of our Speak up Guardians have received<br />
specialised training and are well placed to listen<br />
to issues and guide concerned colleagues on<br />
the best way to resolve those problems. This<br />
gives colleagues the avenue to be able to turn<br />
to Guardians if they want to talk about any<br />
issues they feel need addressing.<br />
Find out how you can speak up and who<br />
our Freedom to Speak up Guardians on<br />
Connect.<br />
“Trust” and “working relationships”<br />
rated highest in latest weConnect survey<br />
Results from the most recent weConnect<br />
survey, issued over the summer<br />
demonstrate high scores for positive<br />
working relationships and trust within<br />
our organisation. Through the survey<br />
people have reported that they feel<br />
trusted to do their jobs and they are<br />
satisfied with the support they get<br />
to enable them to do their role, with<br />
colleagues in nursing services scoring<br />
particularly highly on ‘trust’.<br />
Director of Communications, Ruth<br />
Wilkin explained more: “It is really<br />
encouraging to see ‘trust’ and ‘working<br />
relationships’ continue to score highly<br />
across different surveys over the past year.<br />
This demonstrates the positive change<br />
that is taking place within teams at a local<br />
level.<br />
“However, it is disappointing to see that we<br />
continue to score less well on recognition<br />
despite the vast array of recognition<br />
schemes that are available across the Trust.<br />
It is clear that more needs to be done for<br />
colleagues to feel fully valued within their<br />
teams. Our nine weConnect pioneer teams<br />
are certainly working to change this, and in<br />
this edition of <strong>Heartbeat</strong> you can read about<br />
the fantastic engagement programme<br />
taking place in City ED. We are confident<br />
the pioneer teams will also help increase<br />
the ‘influence score’ which determines how<br />
colleagues feel they can make decisions<br />
within their teams.”<br />
Our overall Trust engagement score remains<br />
roughly the same at 3.84, down slightly<br />
from 3.86 on the last survey. We are aiming<br />
for a score of 4.0 which would put us<br />
among the best in the NHS. Unfortunately<br />
our overall response rate went down to<br />
29 per cent down from 36 per cent on the<br />
last survey but there are some highlights<br />
where directorates have done really well<br />
in responding. The nursing services team<br />
in particular are to be congratulated for<br />
achieving a fantastic 87 per cent response<br />
rate – our highest directorate response rate<br />
to date.<br />
Teams that took part in the latest survey<br />
are medical director’s office, nursing<br />
services, admitted care, emergency<br />
care, iBeds, maternity, paediatrics and<br />
specialist surgery.<br />
We have postponed the next scheduled<br />
survey until January 2020. This will allow<br />
us all to contribute to the national staff<br />
survey that runs from October to end<br />
of November <strong>2019</strong>. Every employee in<br />
the Trust is invited to take part so please<br />
fill in the survey when you receive the<br />
email or letter. Prizes of up to £200 are<br />
available for those who complete the<br />
survey within the first two weeks.<br />
4
Change language