Staff focus updates - 7 March 2013

New policy, guidance and initiatives from across the UK which focus on staff issues and professional development. For more information about this theme see Quality and Safety e-Bulletin: staff focus.

Some of the resources linked to are in PDF format - see how to access PDF files.

BBC: Many nurses ‘feel discouraged’ from raising care concerns. "Almost 30% of 800 nurses in the UK polled by Nursing Times magazine said being seen as a troublemaker was the biggest barrier to them speaking out. Inaction by managers was cited as a barrier by 23%."

BBC: Stafford Hospital senior nurses ‘changed records’. “Two senior nurses at Stafford Hospital changed waiting time figures and ill-treated patients, a disciplinary hearing was told”.

Centre for Workforce Intelligence (CfWI): Workforce planning implications and learning points from Francis 2013. This paper is designed to contribute to an effective response to the Francis inquiry report by helping senior leaders in health, social care and public health to identify its key workforce implications.  It aims to inform and stimulate discussion on the changes that the Francis report recommends at a strategic level, as well as providing advice to leaders as they consider how to engage staff to bring about individual change in the workforce.

Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS): Nurses and midwives have the opportunity to shape change. Health Minister Edwin Poots told delegates at the City of Culture Nursing and Midwifery Conference in Londonderry that nurses and midwives have a key  role in achieving the goals of the public health framework for Northern Ireland.

DH: NHS staff survey 2012. A total of 202,000 NHS staff were invited to participate in this survey by postal questionnaire. Responses were received from 101,000 staff, a response rate of 50 per cent (compared to 53.7 per cent in 2010). The results are primarily intended for use by NHS organisations to help them review and improve staff experience so that staff can provide better patient care. The Care Quality Commission will use the results from the survey to monitor ongoing compliance with essential standards of quality and safety. The NHS Commissioning Board will use the results to aid commissioning decisions. The survey will also support accountability of the Secretary of State for Health to Parliament for delivery of the NHS Constitution.
Survey results
Briefing note: Issues highlighted by the 2012 NHS Staff Survey in England (PDF 169KB).
Statistical press notice.
RCN: Health service under increasing pressure.
NHS Employers: The Francis Report – using your staff survey data.

DH: New powers to check language skills of doctors. New checks are being introduced to make sure all doctors who work for the NHS can speak English well enough to treat patients. The checks are detailed in the government response, published today, to the House of Commons Health Committee Report ’2012 Accountability Hearing with the General Medical Council’.
General Medical Council (GMC) New GMC language testing powers. The General Medical Council has welcomed government plans to give the medical regulator new powers to check the language skills of doctors from Europe.

DH: Launch of consultation on legislation on indemnity insurance. A consultation has been launched on legislation that would mean all regulated healthcare professionals have to hold indemnity or insurance to practise. The consultation has draft regulations on the requirement for all regulated healthcare professionals to hold an insurance or indemnity arrangement as a condition of their registration with the relevant regulatory body. The vast majority of healthcare professionals are already covered by their employer’s arrangements. In the first instance, it will be for each individual healthcare professional to assure themselves that they are covered by an insurance or indemnity arrangement appropriate to their scope of practice. The consultation closes 17 May 2013.

Equality and Human Rights Commission: Religion or belief in the workplace: a guide for employers following recent European Court of Human Rights judgments. "In January 2013, the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) published its judgments in four combined cases about religious rights in the workplace. The cases were brought by Christians, but the implications of the judgment apply to employees with any religion or belief, or none. The judgment affects employer responsibilities for policies and practices protecting religion or belief rights in the workplace, the rights of employees (including job applicants) and the rights of customers". Also available is a legal explanation of the case.
NHS Employers: Religious rights in the workplace. 

Florence Nightingale Foundation: Scholarships 2013-14. The Leadership, Research and Travel Scholarships for 2013-14 are now open for application.  Details for each Scholarship and the closing dates for applications are available on the website. 

GMC: Effective governance to support medical revalidation. The General Medical Council (GMC) developed this handbook in partnership with England’s Care Quality Commission, Monitor, Healthcare Improvement Scotland, Healthcare Inspectorate Wales, Northern Ireland’s Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority as well as the Government Procurement Service. The handbook for Boards and governing bodies aims to help them assess if their organisations have strong enough systems in place to support quality patient care and revalidation.

Guardian Healthcare Professional Network. Happier, more engaged NHS staff lead to better patient care. If care is to become more patient focused, the health service needs an improved culture from board to ward.

Health Services Management Centre (HSMC), University of Birmingham: Transformational healthcare leadership for the NHS. The Health Services Management Centre and Birmingham Business School - as part of a consortium of internationally-renowned institutions - have been selected to support the NHS to deliver the largest and most comprehensive programme of leadership development, ever undertaken in the NHS. Around 25,000 NHS staff including doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, healthcare scientists, and HR and finance staff will have access to foundation, mid and senior level leadership programmes from September. 

King’s Fund: Leadership survey 2013. The King's Fund is working with several organisations including the Royal College of Nursing to examine the state of leadership in the health service in the wake of the Francis inquiry report. This short survey aims to further an understanding of the factors that have an impact on quality and the types of leadership qualities currently driving the NHS.
RCN: The future of NHS Leadership: have your say.  

NHS Confederation: Trust me … I’m a leader. This paper is the second in a series which explores in detail the needs of future healthcare leaders in the new system. Drawing on her experiences as a leader and clinician working within the healthcare system, the author, Dr Clare Gerada chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners stresses that trust should not be underestimated by leaders in the NHS.

NHS Employers: OD: Putting theory into practice. The NHS Employers organisation is working with the NHS Leadership Academy in developing the 'Do OD'pages. NHS Employers "hope these pages provide you with inspiration, give you food for thought and allow you to Connect, Learn and Share with people around the NHS".

NHS Employers: Healthcare Science Week – What’s going on. The week is from 15-24 March 2013 and this page contains an online activity calendar for the week which provides an opportunity to promote the profession and work being done at individual trusts.

Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC): Printer-friendly version of the Midwives rules and standards now available. The NMC has released a printer-friendly version of the Midwives rules and standards. The printer-friendly version does not feature images and is shorter in length, although it still includes the same content as the original, interactive PDF.

RCN: RCN responds to South West pay cartel report. In response to the recent publication of the South West pay, terms and conditions consortium report, Jeannett Martin, Regional Director for the Royal College of Nursing in the South West, said: “The campaign by the RCN and other unions has been successful in diverting the pay cartel from their original intention to implement local pay systems across the South West region".

RCN: Apply now for Gilead Fellowship programme grants. The Gilead UK and Ireland Fellowship Programme (GUKIFP) awards financial grants to projects which support (or contribute to) local innovation and best practice. Funding, amounting to a total of £676,000, is available to individuals or organisations delivering patient-centred care to people with HIV, viral hepatitis, invasive fungal disease and cystic fibrosis.

RCN: RCN comments on 'pragmatic' AfC decision. The Royal College of Nursing has described an agreement to amend the Agenda for Change (AfC) contract in England as the “most effective way” to protect it as a national pay and rewards system.

RCN: Act quickly following an assault. The Royal College of Nursing legal team has advised members to take prompt action if they wish to make a claim after experiencing an assault in the workplace.

Royal College of Physicians (RCP): Hospital workforce: fit for the future? This report brings together findings from the medical registrar report and the 2011 RCP consultant census and looks at the key challenges that are facing the medical workforce. It concludes that there needs to be a rethink of the skills in which doctors are trained, in order to better meet patients’ needs; while the role of the medical registrar and the esteem in which it is held must be reassessed and better valued.

Scottish Government: Nursing staffing levels. A workload measurement and planning tool to determine appropriate nursing levels is being rolled out for community nurses. The workload and workforce planning tool for community nursing will be available to all health boards from May this year. The announcement coincides with the release of NHS Scotland workforce figures. Community-based nursing and midwifery staff have increased by 20.6 per cent (1,691.1 WTE) from 8,198.7 WTE on 30 September 2006 to 9,889.8 WTE on 31 December 2012.
ISD Scotland: Workforce statistics.

Scottish Government: Rise in nursing students. The number of student nurses and midwives entering degree programmes funded by the Scottish Government is to increase by 100 this year. This is the first time the student intake has increased since 2009. Overall student intake for 2013-14 will be 2,530, which is a four per cent increase on the 2012-13 figure of 2,430.