LEADING THE WAY TO INCLUSION
An NHS trust that put equality issues at the top of the agenda has been rated the country’s best gay-friendly employer, writes Frances Pickersgill Just six years ago, the NHS was the lowest-performing sector in the Stonewall index of gay-friendly employers. This year, that situation is reversed, with the 2015 workplace equality index headed by Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust. This trust provides integrated health care including mental health, learning disability and physical health services, and employs more than 8,000 staff in community and hospital settings, as well as at 13 prisons and Rampton high security hospital. According to trust director of nursing, quality and patient experience Dean Howells, the word ‘positive’ embodies the culture of the entire organisation.
Many Nottingham Healthcare NHS Trust staff enjoy participating in lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans community events
LGBT awareness at Nottinghamshire
NOTICE BOARD
An equality and diversity interest group at the trust includes patients and staff. The trust’s magazine promotes LGBT issues. The trust has published a booklet on 30 ways to be LGBT friendly (see resources). It participates in community events such as the Nottingham Pride and Splendour Festivals. ‘Straight allies’ support LGBT initiatives. A helpline for raising concerns is available to all.
‘The trust is positive about everyone’s background, patients and staff alike,’ he says. ‘The board is clear about including everyone’s views, about a good staff experience and acting on patients’ opinions,’ he says. ‘This means that the board and senior managers have to listen, hear and then create a positive culture for all staff and patients to feel valued.’ A key strategic objective was to improve on its Stonewall rating of second place in 2014, a goal that has been well and truly achieved (see box). Mr Howells says topping the index is the result of a lot of hard
Commonwealth nurses The Commonwealth Nurses and Midwives Federation will hold its next conference in Malta on March 6-7. Hosted by the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses, the 11th Europe region conference will cover themes including leadership, practice development, lifelong learning and information technology. www.mumn.org or www.commonwealthnurses.org Presentation skills Healthcare Events will host a masterclass on presentation skills and public speaking for nurses on March 16 at the Hallam Conference Centre in London. Becky Simpson and David Schaal, co-directors of Playout, a drama-based training company, will lead the class. The effects of non-verbal and verbal
work, starting with mandatory training for all staff from their first day at work. ‘Staff receive an introductory talk from the chief executive and another from patients and carers on what the trust expects from its staff in terms of positive attitudes and inclusiveness,’ he says.
High profile
Liaison psychiatric nurse Cheryl Nelson has worked at the trust for two years as part of a team of 12, including psychiatrists, therapists and administrative staff, working mostly with older people. She says: ‘The trust has a high profile in the community on
communication and the use of visual aids will be addressed. Nursing Standard readers can claim a 20 per cent discount by quoting HCUK20RCN when booking. tinyurl.com/HCPSM Care improvements As part of its new Innovating for Improvement programme, the Health Foundation has £1.5 million available for up to 20 teams to test and develop innovative ideas that improve health care and/or the way people manage their own health care. Each team will receive up to £75,000 over 15 months to support the implementation and evaluation of their health care innovation project. The deadline for applications is February 10. www.health.org.uk/ innovatingimprovement
64 february 4 ::from vol 29 no 23 ::by2015 STANDARD Downloaded RCNi.com ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 24, 2015. For personal use only. NoNURSING other uses without permission. Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
CAREERS
RESOURCES Stonewall film nobystanders.org.uk How to be LGBT friendly tinyurl.com/30waysto-LGBTF Stonewall Workplace Equality Index 2015 tinyurl.com/SWTop1002015
Building a better picture of what care co-ordinators do will help to shape the future workforce, says Thomas Lawrence
A joined-up approach The UK’s ageing population is a key driver for health policy reform, with the number of people who have multiple long-term conditions predicted to rise from 1.9 million to 2.9 million in the decade to 2018. Integrated care and care co-ordination are suggested ways of improving healthcare outcomes for this group. Care co-ordination interventions are particularly appealing because they have the potential to improve efficiency and quality, while the government has pledged £3.8 billion in the Better Care Fund to support integrated health and care. No single model of care co-ordination is universally applicable across patient populations. Since coordinated care is to be pursued at ‘scale and pace’, according to health minister Norman Lamb, it would be valuable to: Understand the skills and competencies current care co-ordinators feel are important for success. Find out what care co-ordinators are doing. Identify available training. Develop new ways of working. Consider which types of staff would best CORBIS
equality matters. When I applied for the job here, I knew the trust was gay friendly. ‘My induction included training in all aspects of diversity – lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) issues, age, spirituality, religion, gender and culture. We also organise an annual LGBT conference and the trust has a high profile at Pride events.’ Ms Nelson is also a member of the Sexual Orientation Steering Committee, which monitors policies and procedures in the organisation and promotes many LGBT issues. ‘There are many LGBT staff here and staff are encouraged to be non-judgemental, so patients feel more comfortable. When they see the Pride colours, people ask if the service is gay friendly,’ Ms Nelson says. Ms Nelson says that staff are proud to be part of such an organisation and feel supported at work to be open about their sexuality. ‘This has an effect on staff retention because staff feel valued,’ she says NS
Clinical supervision Helen and Douglas House, a hospice for children and young people, has developed a clinical supervision toolkit for staff involved in clinical supervision. The toolkit includes activities to help nurses consider their thoughts on and experiences of various aspects of clinical supervision. Exercises support learning and skills development that is relevant to nurses’ individual situations. tinyurl.com/H-DHCSTK Midwifery The PROMPT (PRactical Obstetric Multi-Professional Training) symposium, to be held in Bath on March 5-6, will bring together maternity experts from around the world to share their experiences of using medical simulation to improve maternity care. Keynote speakers will include Royal College of Midwives chief executive Cathy Warwick and patient
carry out care co-ordination activities. Understand how the regulatory bodies will ensure quality and safety in the performance of the role. Investigate further potential in the role. My research on care co-ordination looks specifically at the reality and challenges of developing this type of workforce. While we know that co-ordinated care is better for patients, we do not know how a care co-ordination workforce should be composed and organised. I am conducting a survey to find out what care co-ordination nurses are doing, with the aim of defining core skills and competencies and contributing to a clearer definition of the role. Nurses employed in a care co-ordination role or in a role with a substantial care co-ordination emphasis can complete the survey at www. smartsurvey.co.uk/s/workforcesurvey Thomas Lawrence is a consultant at the World Health Organization regional office for Europe and a PhD candidate at Birmingham City University
safety expert Charles Vincent. The symposium will include workshops focusing on new PROMPT training packages for undergraduate and pre-hospital settings, and different methods for monitoring outcomes. www.promptmaternity. org/prompt-symposium Safeguarding seminars RCN Wales will hold two free seminars on February 27 at the Conwy Business Centre, Llandudno Junction. The morning session will be on the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards, including statutory principles of the act, protection against liability and managing supervisory bodies. The afternoon seminar, on safeguarding vulnerable adults, will encourage participants to actively think about what they do to ensure these individuals are safe from abuse, neglect and harm. tinyurl.com/RCNDOLS
NURSING february 4 other :: vol uses 29 no 23 :: permission. 2015 65 DownloadedSTANDARD from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 24, 2015. For personal use only. No without Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
An NHS trust that put equality issues at the top of the agenda has been rated the country’s best gay-friendly employer, writes Frances Pickersgill Just six years ago, the NHS was the lowest-performing sector in the Stonewall index of gay-friendly employers. This year, that situation is reversed, with the 2015 workplace equality index headed by Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust. This trust provides integrated health care including mental health, learning disability and physical health services, and employs more than 8,000 staff in community and hospital settings, as well as at 13 prisons and Rampton high security hospital. According to trust director of nursing, quality and patient experience Dean Howells, the word ‘positive’ embodies the culture of the entire organisation.
Many Nottingham Healthcare NHS Trust staff enjoy participating in lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans community events
LGBT awareness at Nottinghamshire
NOTICE BOARD
An equality and diversity interest group at the trust includes patients and staff. The trust’s magazine promotes LGBT issues. The trust has published a booklet on 30 ways to be LGBT friendly (see resources). It participates in community events such as the Nottingham Pride and Splendour Festivals. ‘Straight allies’ support LGBT initiatives. A helpline for raising concerns is available to all.
‘The trust is positive about everyone’s background, patients and staff alike,’ he says. ‘The board is clear about including everyone’s views, about a good staff experience and acting on patients’ opinions,’ he says. ‘This means that the board and senior managers have to listen, hear and then create a positive culture for all staff and patients to feel valued.’ A key strategic objective was to improve on its Stonewall rating of second place in 2014, a goal that has been well and truly achieved (see box). Mr Howells says topping the index is the result of a lot of hard
Commonwealth nurses The Commonwealth Nurses and Midwives Federation will hold its next conference in Malta on March 6-7. Hosted by the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses, the 11th Europe region conference will cover themes including leadership, practice development, lifelong learning and information technology. www.mumn.org or www.commonwealthnurses.org Presentation skills Healthcare Events will host a masterclass on presentation skills and public speaking for nurses on March 16 at the Hallam Conference Centre in London. Becky Simpson and David Schaal, co-directors of Playout, a drama-based training company, will lead the class. The effects of non-verbal and verbal
work, starting with mandatory training for all staff from their first day at work. ‘Staff receive an introductory talk from the chief executive and another from patients and carers on what the trust expects from its staff in terms of positive attitudes and inclusiveness,’ he says.
High profile
Liaison psychiatric nurse Cheryl Nelson has worked at the trust for two years as part of a team of 12, including psychiatrists, therapists and administrative staff, working mostly with older people. She says: ‘The trust has a high profile in the community on
communication and the use of visual aids will be addressed. Nursing Standard readers can claim a 20 per cent discount by quoting HCUK20RCN when booking. tinyurl.com/HCPSM Care improvements As part of its new Innovating for Improvement programme, the Health Foundation has £1.5 million available for up to 20 teams to test and develop innovative ideas that improve health care and/or the way people manage their own health care. Each team will receive up to £75,000 over 15 months to support the implementation and evaluation of their health care innovation project. The deadline for applications is February 10. www.health.org.uk/ innovatingimprovement
64 february 4 ::from vol 29 no 23 ::by2015 STANDARD Downloaded RCNi.com ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 24, 2015. For personal use only. NoNURSING other uses without permission. Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
CAREERS
RESOURCES Stonewall film nobystanders.org.uk How to be LGBT friendly tinyurl.com/30waysto-LGBTF Stonewall Workplace Equality Index 2015 tinyurl.com/SWTop1002015
Building a better picture of what care co-ordinators do will help to shape the future workforce, says Thomas Lawrence
A joined-up approach The UK’s ageing population is a key driver for health policy reform, with the number of people who have multiple long-term conditions predicted to rise from 1.9 million to 2.9 million in the decade to 2018. Integrated care and care co-ordination are suggested ways of improving healthcare outcomes for this group. Care co-ordination interventions are particularly appealing because they have the potential to improve efficiency and quality, while the government has pledged £3.8 billion in the Better Care Fund to support integrated health and care. No single model of care co-ordination is universally applicable across patient populations. Since coordinated care is to be pursued at ‘scale and pace’, according to health minister Norman Lamb, it would be valuable to: Understand the skills and competencies current care co-ordinators feel are important for success. Find out what care co-ordinators are doing. Identify available training. Develop new ways of working. Consider which types of staff would best CORBIS
equality matters. When I applied for the job here, I knew the trust was gay friendly. ‘My induction included training in all aspects of diversity – lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) issues, age, spirituality, religion, gender and culture. We also organise an annual LGBT conference and the trust has a high profile at Pride events.’ Ms Nelson is also a member of the Sexual Orientation Steering Committee, which monitors policies and procedures in the organisation and promotes many LGBT issues. ‘There are many LGBT staff here and staff are encouraged to be non-judgemental, so patients feel more comfortable. When they see the Pride colours, people ask if the service is gay friendly,’ Ms Nelson says. Ms Nelson says that staff are proud to be part of such an organisation and feel supported at work to be open about their sexuality. ‘This has an effect on staff retention because staff feel valued,’ she says NS
Clinical supervision Helen and Douglas House, a hospice for children and young people, has developed a clinical supervision toolkit for staff involved in clinical supervision. The toolkit includes activities to help nurses consider their thoughts on and experiences of various aspects of clinical supervision. Exercises support learning and skills development that is relevant to nurses’ individual situations. tinyurl.com/H-DHCSTK Midwifery The PROMPT (PRactical Obstetric Multi-Professional Training) symposium, to be held in Bath on March 5-6, will bring together maternity experts from around the world to share their experiences of using medical simulation to improve maternity care. Keynote speakers will include Royal College of Midwives chief executive Cathy Warwick and patient
carry out care co-ordination activities. Understand how the regulatory bodies will ensure quality and safety in the performance of the role. Investigate further potential in the role. My research on care co-ordination looks specifically at the reality and challenges of developing this type of workforce. While we know that co-ordinated care is better for patients, we do not know how a care co-ordination workforce should be composed and organised. I am conducting a survey to find out what care co-ordination nurses are doing, with the aim of defining core skills and competencies and contributing to a clearer definition of the role. Nurses employed in a care co-ordination role or in a role with a substantial care co-ordination emphasis can complete the survey at www. smartsurvey.co.uk/s/workforcesurvey Thomas Lawrence is a consultant at the World Health Organization regional office for Europe and a PhD candidate at Birmingham City University
safety expert Charles Vincent. The symposium will include workshops focusing on new PROMPT training packages for undergraduate and pre-hospital settings, and different methods for monitoring outcomes. www.promptmaternity. org/prompt-symposium Safeguarding seminars RCN Wales will hold two free seminars on February 27 at the Conwy Business Centre, Llandudno Junction. The morning session will be on the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards, including statutory principles of the act, protection against liability and managing supervisory bodies. The afternoon seminar, on safeguarding vulnerable adults, will encourage participants to actively think about what they do to ensure these individuals are safe from abuse, neglect and harm. tinyurl.com/RCNDOLS
NURSING february 4 other :: vol uses 29 no 23 :: permission. 2015 65 DownloadedSTANDARD from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 24, 2015. For personal use only. No without Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
