17 December 2021
A big thank you to everyone who took part in the latest Our Big Conversation which closed in November.
We heard from more than 500 staff and 160 service users, carers and partners.
Past conversations have shaped Our Journey to Change. This sets out why we do what we do, the kind of organisation we want to be and the three big goals we’re committed to. Our conversations continue to be an important part of how we deliver this.
We have five dedicated groups that are working to understand in more detail what we need to do to improve. They are also taking responsibility for the actions that will help us achieve our goals.
In the most recent conversation we asked questions to find out more about two areas that are an important part of Our Journey to Change:
- Make TEWV a great place to work
- Make sure everything we do supports staff to deliver safe and kind care. This includes the systems we use, the places we work and how we do things.
There will be some things we can do quickly that will make a positive difference. But a lot of the feedback is about issues that will take us longer to get right. For example, changing processes and systems, working differently with partners and changing the culture within our trust.
We can’t do it all at once and part of this process will be prioritising what we’ve heard.
We’ll keep sharing where we are up to and involving patients, carers, staff and partners in our progress.
We’ve created a PDF document that will tell you more about what we heard and some of the actions we’ve taken. You can also read about them on this page.
What we heard and some of the actions we’ve takenWhat we heard and some of the actions we’ve taken
What we heard about recruitment …
- The recruitment process takes too long and takes a lot of time to coordinate.
- Not enough staff to meet the demand for care. This leads to high waiting times, lack of support for some people, and high caseloads. It also impacts on staff wellbeing.
What we’re doing about it …
- We have had a recruitment drive to get more staff into our services, with a particular focus on wards.
- Our recruitment team has also made some changes to how it works. This means new recruits will be in post quicker than before and our managers will spend less time managing the process.
What we heard about our culture, values and behaviours …
- Some people have experienced negative attitudes and bullying which isn’t challenged.
- The importance of compassionate and supportive leadership at all levels.
- Listen to patients and carers.
- Involve patients and families in decisions, listen to and value their contributions.
What we’re doing about it …
- We launched our new values and are sharing what these mean at workshops with staff. 400staff have attended so far and we plan to hold more.
- Almost 450 staff attended empathy training with more sessions planned.
- We changed our grievance process.
- We’re reviewing our leadership programme and plan for it to be available to everyone in a leadership position. It focuses on a compassionate and collaborative approach.
What we heard about our buildings and the facilities we provide …
- More choice and availability of food and drinks, including outside of office hours.
- Make our spaces more welcoming.
- Our buildings need more space for staff to work and for patient care.
- It needs to be easier to get jobs done on our buildings. It also needs to be quicker.
What we’re doing about it …
- There’s a continual programme of work to improve our sites.
- We’re reviewing how we use the spaces in our buildings. This could provide opportunities for us to better use our buildings for both clinical and non-clinical work.
- We are looking at improving the vending machines we have so staff, patients and carers can access drinks and snacks day and night using differing methods of payment.
What we heard about information technology …
- Make it easier for staff to get the IT equipment they need when they need it.
- Use technology to reduce the amount of admin tasks for staff who provide patient care.
What we’re doing about it …
- We’re making plans to make it easier for people to get the right IT equipment they need when they start and while they’re working for us.
- We’ve recently approved our Digital and Data Journey for Change which explains how we will use digital technology and data to provide excellent patient centred care.
- We’re looking at introducing automation into processes to save significant amounts of time spent on tasks and to improve quality.
- In 2022, we will be piloting speech recognition software within our patient record system.
- We are exploring the use of artificial intelligence and what this could mean for the organisation.
What we heard about communications …
- Improve communication between services and patients and families, services and partner organisations, and teams.
- Keep people up-to-date and use different communication methods.
- It can be difficult to speak to the right person at the right time.
What we’re doing about it …
- We launched our new trust website in early December. This means it’s easier to find the information you need.
- We will review internal communications to make sure we share information with staff in the best way.
- We’re working on a project that aims to make our communication more engaging and accessible for the people who use our services, staff and partners. This will launch in the new year.
What we heard about the amount of meetings staff go to …
There’s too many and they go on for too long.
What we’re doing about it …
Our new governance structure, which comes in next Spring, will reduce the number of meetings staff have to go to. We will also be working on guidance about making meetings more effective. We’ll share this with staff early in the New Year. The new structure supports Our Journey to Change. It will help us focus on providing safe and kind care.
What we heard about the systems we use and information we collect …
- Reporting the same information into different systems and reports is time consuming.
- Systems are too complex and take too much time to use.
What we’re doing about it …
We’ve started recording what information people in certain roles have to report. We will review this and look for opportunities to streamline data collection.
What we heard about our people policies and procedures
- Procedures are lengthy and can impact on staff wellbeing.
- Not always applied consistently.
- More training for managers.
What we’re doing about it …
We’re reviewing all people policies to ensure they embody our values.
What we heard about people’s experience of care
- People can wait a long time for an autism diagnosis and there is a lack of support post-diagnosis.
- Services need to be flexible to meet an individual’s needs.
- Services and partners need to work better together so people receive holistic care.
- Bridge the gap between primary and secondary care.
- We use outdated models and can have a negative attitude towards people with experience of trauma or with a personality disorder.
What we’re doing about it …
In the New Year we will be asking for more feedback on everything related to the care we provide. This will build on what we heard in earlier conversations and will be used to inform our clinical strategy. This will set out how we are going to provide the best possible mental health, learning disability and autism care for people who use our services now and in the future.
