THE NORTHUMBRIA WAYStaff guide to our quality future

Our continuous journey to

provide high quality, safe and

caring health and care services

RECRUIT THE RIGHT PEOPLE»

» RECRU IT THOS E S H AR I NG OUR VALUES » » VALUES BAS ED INDUCT ION »

ATTRACT AND RETAIN THE

BEST PEOPLE

We recognise that we will only attract

and retain the best people, if we

make Northumbria an excellent place

to work. To achieve this, we need to

meet the needs of our employees and

we know this includes engaging and

involving staff in decisions that affect

them, supporting and respecting people

in their roles and providing access to

training and professional development.

NHS STAFF SURVEY

One of the ways we track how we are

performing in these areas is through the

annual NHS Staff Survey. The results tell

us how staff feel and highlight areas

where there is room for improvement.

We discuss these areas with employees

and agree the changes we feel we can

make to improve things. These changes

feed into action plans which we track

and monitor.

HSJ BEST PLACE TO WORK

Our employees are our most important

asset so we are proud to have been

named best place to work in the NHS

for 2015 by the Health Service Journal.

If you know of anyone who would like to join our team, encourage them to visit our dedicated web pagewww.northumbria.nhs.uk/our-people

i

HERE

Best place to work 2015

» RECRU IT THOS E S H AR I NG OUR VALUES » » VALUES BAS ED INDUCT ION »

RECRUIT THOSE WHO SHARE

OUR VALUES

Recruiting individuals who share the

trust’s values through a structured

approach, is continuing to help us

ensure that our employees are focused

and engaged in providing the highest

quality of care to our patients.

Research tells us that employees will

be more satisfied in their roles if their

personal values are aligned to those

of their employer and using a values-

based approach helps us to achieve

this. Research also shows a strong link

between role satisfaction and high

performance so those who are happy

and engaged in their work are more

likely to perform well.

This helps us ensure patients, carers and

service users always receive the highest

quality of care from us.

Our staff survey results tell us that you

are some of the most satisfied employees

in the NHS and that you would also

recommend us as a good place to work.

We are really proud of this and will

continue to focus on our values-based

approach strengthening our workforce

and maintaining and improving our staff

survey results.

Ensure values-based interviewing is carried out by a trained panelist.i

» HOW we l i v e an d b

reathe our values »

UNDERSTAND OUR VALUES»

RESPECT

» We lead by example

» We aim to be good role models

» We respect everyone’s contribution

» We support individuals to succeed

EVERYONE’S CONTRIBUTION COUNTS

» We all have a part to play in delivering excellence

» We encourage education and personal development

» We all take responsibility for developing others

RESPONSIBILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY

» We take personal responsibility for our actions

» We actively build relationships within and across teams

» We measure performance and act on facts

» HOW we l i v e an d b

reathe our values »

PATIENTS FIRST

» Patient care will be the best we can deliver

» We show compassion, empathy and respect

» We ensure physical comfort and emotional support

» We provide the right information at the right time

for patients and their families

» We respond to the needs of all patients

» We provide excellent services

SAFE AND HIGH QUALITY CARE

» Quality and safety are at the heart of everything we do

» We set clear standards and report against them

» We will encourage new ideas and innovation

» We will continuously improve to ensure our standard

is the highest it can possibly be.

i All staff should live by these values every day.

POSITIVE BEHAVIOURS»

» WHAT WE EXPECT » » WHAT YOU EXPECT »

PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY AND BEHAVIOUR FRAMEWORK

Working with staff, staff side

representatives and patients, we have

developed a personal responsibility

and behavioural framework which

is alligned to our values and the

NHS Constitution. It articulates the

standards and behaviours we expect

to see in our workplace recognising

that the behaviour we display can be

the difference between a patient or

colleague having a positive or

negative experience of Northumbria.

We have set these standards for each

other and we would encourage everyone

to live our values by demonstrating these

positive behaviours.

Patients first» Listen to patients’ needs

» Clearly communicate and genuinely

value people’s views

» Empower patients to make

decisions that affect them

Safe and high quality care » Adhere to processes and procedures

» Speak up if processes and procedures

aren’t followed

» Be open to new ideas

Personal responsibility and accountability » Promote an open and transparent culture

» Recognise your limitations

» Take ownership

» WHAT WE EXPECT » » WHAT YOU EXPECT »

Everyone’s contribution counts » Inspire and involve others

» Celebrate success and reinforce

contributions

» Develop and support others to

reach their full potential

» Seek out opportunities to learn

and develop

» Respond positively to feedback

» Appreciate diverse differences

Respect » Act as a role model

» Treat others as they wish

to be treated

» Be open, honest and transparent

» Challenge others who behave

disrespectfully

ii Staff and leaders should reference the personal responsibility and behaviour framework– ensuring they reflect it in their day-to-day interactions including in their support and supervision of others. Everyone has a responsibility to raise a concern with their line manager or senior colleague should they observe behaviours that are not in line with this framework.

CELEBRATEDIVERSITY

Inno

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POSITIVE BEHAVIOURS

GROW AND DEVELOP PEOPLE TO SUCCEED

»

» staff engagement » » SUP PORT ING STAF F »

We want our staff to be able to

contribute to making improvements at

work. We know that to do this there

needs to be a high level of engagement

with employees involved in decision-

making within their own work areas

as well as being well informed about

the trust in general. Some of the ways

we do this include structured team

meetings, in-house conferences, away

days, workshops, one-to-one meetings,

staff focus groups and working in

partnership with staff side.

TEAM MEETINGS

» Ensure a high level of staff

engagement as we know this has a

direct impact on an employee’s ability

to perform well. Teams therefore have

a meeting at least every month.

» A briefing - team brief - is discussed

at team meetings to ensure everyone

is informed of key developments and

trust performance. Teams discuss what

this means for their own work area.

» A pilot is in place on some of our

wards – named board to ward –

where meetings are structured to allow

teams to set clear team objectives

and review their own performance

against these.

» staff engagement » » SUP PORT ING STAF F »

APPRAISAL MEETINGS

Are used to:

» Review an employee’s positive

contribution to the organisation

» Allow an employee the opportunity

to give and receive feedback on their

performance

» Agree clear, challenging and

achievable objectives

» Help employees do their job even better

» Ensure employees are enthusiastic

and motivated about the year ahead

Staff and leaders are expected to actively participate in team meetings.

Staff should put their ideas forward and seek support to lead changes – see 'starting an improvement journey'.

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SUPPORTING STAFF TO

LEAD CHANGES

We provide the support employees need

to make improvements happen. The trust

is made up of highly-skilled people and

teams who are ready and willing to guide

and support people through continuous

improvement journeys/projects.

The trust will identify the support

individuals need, such as the help of

the transformation team or the trust

practice development matron, and will

signpost people to the relevant team

which has the expertise to help, for

example communications, information

management and technology

and so on.

LISTENING AND RESPONDINGTO PATIENTS’ VIEWS

»

» the experience of our patients » » improve aspects

of our care »

We want to ensure patients and

service users:

» Receive the best possible care

» Are welcomed and listened to

» Are treated with dignity and respect

To help us do this, we have systems

in place to capture the experience

of our patients. These include:

REAL-TIME PROGRAMME

The real-time surveys take place whilst

patients are in hospital. They ask for

feedback on a range of areas such

as respect and dignity, pain control,

kindness and compassion, and staff

approach.

Information from these surveys is fed

back to clinical teams within 24 hours

so they can take immediate action if it

is needed. This programme continues to

expand with over 500 patients taking

part in face-to-face interviews each

month. A selection of interviews take

place in the evening and at weekends to

ensure a full picture of care is gained.

PATIENT PERSPECTIVE SURVEY

We survey thousands of patients once

they leave hospital to enable us to gain

a very balanced view of their experience

of our care. These surveys reach patients

once they have had the opportunity to

gather their thoughts and views.

We send these surveys to patients who

have received treatment as an inpatient,

outpatient or in our emergency department

and we use all feedback to improve

essential aspects of our care that we know

matter most to patients. An independent

company, approved by the Care Quality

Commission, conduct the surveys and

evaluate our results.

» the experience of our patients » » improve aspects

of our care »

Your views

Our response

FRIENDS AND FAMILY TEST

This national test tells us what

proportion of people using our services

would be extremely likely or likely to

recommend them to their friends and

family. It is extremely important to get

a good response rate to this test as

this makes the resulting statistic more

statistically reliable. We gather friends

and family data by asking people to

fill in two minutes of your time cards

on the day of discharge.

TWO MINUTES OF YOUR TIME SURVEY

A short survey card that only involves

asking six questions. Given on the day

of discharge, it allows us to have an

understating of how individual wards

and outpatient services are doing.

ADULT SOCIAL CARE SURVEY

This is an annual survey overseen by

the Health and Social Care Information

Centre. A questionnaire captures a

range of information on service users’

satisfaction with their support services

and how services affect the lives of users.

UNDERSTANDING FREE TEXT

COMMENTS

All of our surveys give people the

opportunity to share their views using

free text comment boxes. We use

these free text comments to identify

opportunities for improvement.

CREATE A CULTUREOF TRUST

»

» Res p ect on e anoth e r ’ s v i ews »

We know that employees are most likely

to succeed and do well in a culture where

they feel safe and supported to make

decisions and implement changes.

Although not easy to achieve, we must

create an environment where employees

respect one another’s views and where

everyone understands they are equal.

If we see something that is of concern

to us we all have a responsibility to report

it whether this relates to patient care,

breaches of patient confidentiality,

fraud or someone’s behaviour towards

ourselves or others. If you observe it,

you have to report it.

Staff should do this in whatever way

they feel most comfortable and can do

this either formally or informally. You can

speak to, or email, your line manager or

any senior leader in the organisation for

advice. Alternatively you can contact the

patient services department or speak to

our counter fraud officer.

Where possible, and as long as you

feel this is appropriate to do so, we

would encourage you to raise concerns

informally in the first instance and work

with colleagues to find solutions.

Staff should know that raising a concern

will never impact negatively on them and

there will be no consequences even if the

concern is found to be unfounded as long

as the concern was reported for genuine

reasons. In looking into a concern, the

organisation is first and foremost looking

at learning opportunities.

Staff should raise anything they see that is a concern to themi

TRANSPARENTactively listening

valuing

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safe & supportedCARED FOR

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CELEBRATINGDIVERSITY

WE’RE LISTENING»

» Res p ect on e anoth e r ’ s v i ews »

The views of our staff are very important

to us and we hope that employees

are able to share their opinions with

colleagues, their line manager and others

on a daily basis and are able to influence.

Another route to share a view or

opinion is to use the newly-developed

‘We’re listening’ channel.

This channel is available to staff,

patients and the public and you will

find ‘We’re listening’ cards on display

around the trust with post boxes also

provided. In addition, you can complete

these cards online through the trust’s

website and intranet.

When sharing your views in this way,

you can be assured they will be listened

to, as there is a robust process in place to

review these and take all necessary action.

We think that staff may find these cards

particularly useful should they wish to

share views on something outside their

own work area.

Please take the time to share your opinions and viewsi

We’re listening

put i

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TO H ELP

IMPROVE

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RVICES

and BECOME MORE EF

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plus AVO I D dup

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YOUR IDEAS

STARTING AN IMPROVEMENT JOURNEY

»

» suggesting and lead ing » » S pr ead th e i d ea »

We know that to be the best we can

be we must continually improve, so

suggesting and leading improvements

must be part of everyone’s role.

A simple idea or suggestion can go

a long way to improving the way we

do things, making care even better or

shaping the future of our services.

We want to hear all of your ideas and

suggestions so that we can make sure

you are receiving the right support. We

will also record your idea and ask you to

update us on the outcome so that we

can share the learning from any positive

outcomes.

So, if you have an idea, no matter

how big or small, please visit The

Northumbria Way section of the staff

intranet and submit your suggestion.

SIGNPOSTING YOU TO THE RIGHT

HELP AND SUPPORT

To help us signpost you to the right help

and support, we need to know a little

bit about your improvement idea. When

submitting your ideas on the staff

intranet, you will be asked to think about

your idea and tell us:

1. What are you trying to accomplish?

2. How will you know the change is

an improvement?

3. What changes can you make that

will result in an improvement?

These questions come from the Institute

for Healthcare Improvement’s model of

improvement and they help us identify the:

1. Aim of the project

2. Measure of success

3. Changes needed

» suggesting and lead ing » » S pr ead th e i d ea »

IMPROVEMENT TECHNIQUES

Depending on the size, scale and nature

of the change you are trying to make,

we may suggest that you use a quality

improvement technique. There are

many different techniques, all of which

are excellent in helping achieve good

results, but the type of change you are

trying to make will determine which

technique is likely to be of most help.

Put forward your idea so we can provide you with any support you need to take this forward.

Be open to and supportive of change.

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SHARING THE LEARNING

When we test our ideas it helps us to

evolve them into knowledge, this

knowledge informs our actions which

produces positive outcomes. When we

achieve positive outcomes in one area

we want to share the learning and, if

appropriate, share and spread the idea.

STARTING AN IMPROVEMENT JOURNEY

» RECOGN IS ING CONTR IBUT IONS MAD e »

CELEBRATING SUCCESS

»

Our staff play a vital role in our success

and it is important we recognise this.

We want to encourage our staff to be

proud at work and understand that

celebrating success contributes to

achieving this.

We have an annual recognition

programme in place to celebrate the

contribution of our outstanding teams

and individuals named the Building a

Caring Future Awards.

We are also planning to introduce a

new scheme, which can run throughout

the year, to recognise those employees

who live our values named STAR People.

This new scheme will be designed

to help embed our values into the

culture of our organisation by formally

acknowledging those who demonstrate

exceptional performance as STAR People.

By exceptional performance we mean

those who go above and beyond

what would normally be expected of

their role and these people would be

awarded gold, silver and bronze stars in

recognition of this.

STAR PEOPLE

Staff should nominate colleagues who display the values to an exceptional level for an award.

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» RECOGN IS ING CONTR IBUT IONS MAD e »

BUILDING A CARING FUTURE

AWARDS

The Building a Caring Future Awards are

designed to recognise the contribution

both individuals and teams make to the

work of the trust in providing high quality

services to our patients and the wider

public.

There are 12 categories:

» Patients first award

» Safe and high quality care award

» Innovation award

» Respect award

» Responsibility and accountability –

emerging leader award

» Responsibility and accountability –

inspirational leader award

» Partnership working award

» Everyone’s contribution counts award

» Learner of the year

» Best apprentice of the year

» The Rosemary Stephenson student

nurse of the year

» Volunteer of the year

There are three nominations shortlisted

for each category with one winner and

two runners-up. They are chosen by

a panel of staff from across the trust

as well as board and public governor

representatives.

Each of the top three nominations in

each award category are invited

to the awards dinner celebrating the

excellence of our staff. The winner

is announced at this event.

Please take the time to nominate if you know of an individual or team who deserve recognition.

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Nominate individuals or teams for a

‘Building a Caring Future’ award -

there are 12 categories

@NorthumbriaNHS» www.northumbr i a.nhs. uk »

Do you need to recruit?Would you like to make a comment

or share your view?

Do you have an idea or suggestion about how we could improve?

Do you know of someone who deserves recognition for their contribution?

FINDING YOUR WAY»

Submit your idea to gain help and support by completing the

form on the trust intranet - ’starting an improvement journey‘ section

Consider nominating colleagues

who display the trust

values for a ’Star people‘

star

Nominate individuals

or teams for a ’Building a

Caring Future‘ award;

there are 12 categories

Ensure someone on

the interview panel is trained in values-based

interviewing

Complete ‘We’re

listening’ form

on trust intranet

Complete ‘We’re

listening’ card on display around

the trust and place in ‘We’re listening’ post box