Cheryl Samuels FCIPD

How is employee absence affecting NHS frontline care? Our new report analyzes absence data from NHS Trusts and highlights the impact on care delivery. With NHS challenges mounting, understanding this relationship is key to improving services. Using NHS Workforce Report data, the report discusses the impact of absence on: * Treatment waiting times * A&E response times * Cancelled operations Discover the findings and explore the solutions by downloading your free copy today: https://lnkd.in/ei7ccPkz #NHS #NHSChallenges #CareDelivery #Healthcare #DataReport #EmployeeAbsence

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🌟 **Preparing for My Daughter’s GCSE Results: Reflections on Her Journey and Digital Transformation** 🌟 As a parent, there are few moments as nerve-wracking as waiting for your child’s GCSE results. My eldest daughter has worked incredibly hard, and as we prepare for this milestone, I can’t help but reflect on the journey she has gone through—and how it mirrors the journey of digital transformation in care homes. **1. Setting Clear Goals:** From the start, my daughter set clear goals for what she wanted to achieve. Similarly, in digital transformation, it’s crucial to define what success looks like for your care home. Whether it’s improving care quality, increasing efficiency, or enhancing staff satisfaction, having a clear vision is the first step. **2. Consistent Effort and Learning:** Throughout her studies, my daughter put in consistent effort, learning new skills and adapting to challenges along the way. Digital transformation is no different—it requires ongoing commitment, continuous learning, and a willingness to adapt to new technologies and processes. **3. Embracing the Unknown:** Just like navigating the ups and downs of revision and exams, the digital transformation journey can be filled with uncertainties. But by embracing the unknown and trusting the process, both my daughter and care home operators can achieve remarkable results. **4. Support System:** My daughter’s success has also been about the support she received—from teachers, friends, and family. In the same way, successful digital transformation requires a strong support system, including expert guidance, team collaboration, and the right tools to make the journey smoother. **5. The Power of Reflection:** As we await the results, it’s a moment to reflect on how far she has come. In digital transformation, it’s equally important to reflect on the progress made, the challenges overcome, and the improvements achieved. It’s a journey of growth and learning, both personally and professionally. As we look forward to the next steps for my daughter, I’m reminded of the importance of perseverance, adaptability, and support in achieving any goal—whether it’s academic success or transforming the way we deliver care. **Ready to Transform Your Care Home?** At iCare Services, we’re here to support your digital journey, just as I’ve supported my daughter through hers. Let’s work together to achieve your goals and deliver outstanding care. 📞 Book a Call with Our Team https://lnkd.in/di5VG96v #CareHomes #DigitalTransformation #iCareServices #TechnologyInCare #GCSEResults #ProudParent #SupportSystem #GrowthJourney #QualityCare

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Addressing #healthinequalities is an ongoing NHS priority. But how do you engage with relevant partners across communities? How do you determine the financial cost? And how do you strike the balance between national systems, joint planning, and local knowledge to address them? We cover these questions and more as part of our health inequalities bitesize courses, free to all NHS staff and essential learning to anyone wanting to contribute to the health inequalities agenda. https://okt.to/OMLB1q

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This week’s share is the Care Quality Commission's report on maternity services (https://lnkd.in/eJvspZRp). It builds on previous reports in 2020 and 2022, shining a further spotlight on the state of maternity care today. This subject matters really deeply to me: I was privileged to be an obstetric anaesthetist for twenty years, and counselled numerous women who had experienced poor care which was impacting their decision making about how (and in some cases if ) they should give birth in the future, and their stories shaped my practice. The report makes difficult reading. It’s not describing anything new, and there is good progress in some areas, but overall the pace of change is slow. Today, no English maternity service is rated as outstanding, and two thirds ‘require improvement’ or worse. It describes that, in some units, poor care has become normalised, with incidents under-reported. This misses the opportunity to learn and institute training. Alongside this is a normalisation of potentially serious incidents when these have been managed effectively, not asking if the whole event was avoidable. Birth can still be psychologically very traumatic even when care is safe. This contributes to the long term impact giving birth can have on mental health even when physical trauma has resolved. The report states that 4 to 5% of women develop PTSD as a result of giving birth a year. I did the maths, and that’s 25 to 30 000 women a year. Other areas of focus include lack of consistent triage, poor data, estates that don’t support delivering safe care, communication challenges both with clients and between staff, and deep seated health inequalities. Addressing these issues is hard, and made harder by the long standing staffing challenges in maternity services. Shortages, and the pressure staff feel under to go the extra mile contribute to risking sickness rates and retention challenges that perpetuate the cycle. And care needs are getting more complex, with rising rates of obesity and other medical conditions and a continuing rise in the proportion of babies born by caesarean section. At CF I’ve worked with a number of systems and ICBs to set out the specific challenges faced by local maternity services, develop care models that tackle these, set a strategic direction for the future, and prioritise what needs to be done to deliver this. I’m invariably blown away by the passion and commitment of staff to deliver better care, their willingness to work in partnership across systems to do so, and to combine their knowledge with the data to develop compelling solutions. My fervent hope is that more systems set out the transformation of maternity services needed to deliver the care women and families deserve, and that the NHS 10 year plan when it comes enables delivery. Thoughts welcome, and if you’d like to talk about any of this, message me… #NHS #maternitycare

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Regular HR policy reviews are essential for staying up to date, maintaining compliance and fostering inclusivity in your workplace. I work with NHS organisations to: ✔️ Review and update policies to ensure they are to date with legislative changes ✔️ Implement best practices for inclusive HR management ✔️ Support leaders in creating fair workplaces Need a policy refresh or a fit for purpose policy template to quickly adopt ? Let me help ensure your HR policies reflect the highest standards. Contact me today to enquire about a policy refresh. #HRPolicyReview #ComplianceSupport #InclusiveLeadership

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Our latest report looks to the ABCs to help NHS leaders address the current challenges it faces. For A, we’re looking at Active Solutions and the key pillars for reducing avoidable agency spend.   Get your copy - https://lnkd.in/dTajJvFg   #AgencySpendReduction #NHS #NHSpartners #NHSstaff #WorkforceProductivity

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🚀 Transforming complex healthcare decisions into a single button 🚀 Some amazing insights from our previous Evo Inspires episode with Nick Venters, Chief Clinical Information Officer at Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust hosted by Emma Howard. What started as complex stakeholder negotiations between privacy advocates and research bodies is now a simple button in your NHS app. Sometimes the simplest solutions require the most thought! Want to share your digital health story? We're always looking for guests for both Evo Inspires and our Evolution Exchange Podcast. Comment "speaker" below and we'll be in touch! 🎤 #DigitalHealth #HealthcareInnovation #HealthTech #DataPrivacy  #HealthcareLeadership

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Employee voice and new rights for workplace union delegates: Centre for Future Work This report examines the content and impact of a new regime of rights for workplace union delegates following recent changes to the Fair Work Act. The first part of the report focuses on the new rights themselves, including those provided specifically through legislation, how the Fair Work Commission (FWC) has applied those protections in the content of modern awards, and the framework for delegates’ rights provisions in enterprise agreements. The second part then addresses the question of the impact of these new rights on pay, conditions, safety, union membership, workplace cooperation and productivity. It concentrates on the activities of union delegates and the relationship to cooperative and productive workplace relations (a focus of the main object of the Fair Work Act 2009). That is, the emphasis is on the way in which worker voice through workplace delegates affects workplace cooperation, productivity and related outcomes. The third part looks more specifically at the new rights for paid union training, their implications and the way in which the effects will be contingent on union responses to them.

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An effective finance strategy is a key part how NHS organisations can reduce health inequalities. There are three main ways in which finance can help. Find out more about the role of finance in reducing health inequalities on the HFMA website.

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White paper launched. An independent review will also be launched into how employers can be better supported to employ people with disabilities health conditions, and to keep them in the workplace, ensuring that more people can benefit from a sense of dignity, purpose and financial independence. #HR #NHS

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Does your company have a Cancer policy? More people under 50 and of working age are being diagnosed with cancer than ever before, reshaping the landscape of our workplaces. This trend presents unique challenges for individuals, as younger employees must balance the demands of treatment and recovery with their careers. Building a Cancer Policy is a powerful way to show your team that they are not just employees – they are people, and their well-being matters. Supporting employees through and after serious health issues builds a culture of empathy and trust and when HR departments make proactive steps to offer understanding and accommodation, it enhances loyalty and team morale, demonstrating that employees are valued beyond their roles. #HRPolicy #CancerSupport #EmployeeWellbeing #InclusiveWorkplace #EmpathyInHR Working With Cancer

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🚨 **New Intermediate Pay Point for Bands 8a and Above** 🚨 I’m pleased to share that the NHS Staff Council has approved the NHS Pay Review Body’s recommendation to introduce an intermediate pay point for bands 8a and above. This update is part of the ongoing commitment to ensuring fair and equitable pay structures across the NHS. 📅 **Effective Date:** 1 April 2024 Key updates: - Annex 2 of the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service (TCS) Handbook has been revised to include this change. - Updated pay award resources and a new pay advisory notice have been published. - NHS Employers are working closely with the Electronic Staff Record (ESR) team to finalise the implementation timeline. This change is a significant step forward in recognising the dedication and expertise of our senior NHS staff. NHS Employers are also collaborating with the NHS Staff Council to address any implications and ensure smooth implementation. Stay tuned to the NHS Employers website for further guidance and support as we move forward with this important development. Full details https://lnkd.in/eFAc2_Aq

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NHS trusts have some way to go on #digitalmaturity, the new snapshot report examining the Digital Maturity Assessment (DMA) scores of NHS trusts across England from Digital Health reveals. Out of seven success measures, ‘Ensure smart foundations’ emerged as the top-performing measure across all trusts, but with an average score of 3.2 out of five. NHS England is due to send out questionnaires for the 2024 edition of the assessment. Will we see progress made? https://lnkd.in/eNpGqXbc

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📚This is a good read. 💻💫Is anyone feeling the benefit and efficiencies of using digital? 👂Would be good to hear your examples in the comments below. #healthtech #digital #patientaccess #patientcare #healthcare #nhs

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NHS Chief Executive, Amanda Pritchard has announced a programme to transform NHS leadership and management over the next 2 years. Leaders and managers shape the culture, experience and outcomes across the service for patients and our staff. So this programme won’t be optional; it will be an essential expectation of all leaders and managers, whether clinical or operational. This programme is being overseen by Navina Evans, Chief Workforce, Training and Education Officer, while Sam Allen, Chief Executive of North East and North Cumbria ICB has been tasked with supporting NHS England’s team to deliver the programme.   The programme has 3 workstreams which will set the right standards, improve our development offer, and nurture and deploy talent across the NHS. Workstream 1: Set the right standards for our leaders and managers NHS England will introduce a new Management and Leadership Framework to create greater parity with clinical and other professions and consistency at all levels of management and leadership. The framework is being developed now and implementation is expected to start in summer 2025. The framework will comprise: a code of practice to set out the values and behaviours expected of all leaders and managers in the NHS and social care the professional standards that leaders and managers must demonstrate the competencies which underpin the standards and outline the specific skills, knowledge and abilities individuals need to perform effectively at each level Workstream 2: Develop our leadership and management  It’s not enough to set out the right standards for leaders and managers – they need quality-assured support and training along the way too. That’s why we will set out: a new accredited leadership and management development curriculum which will describe the requirements for delivering high quality training and development refreshed leadership development programmes which update current Leadership Academy programmes against the new standards Workstream 3: Talent support and career development We need to improve how we attract, identify, mobilise and retain talent and high potential at all levels in the NHS. We will do this by: strengthening the talent pipeline for chair, non-executive director, chief executive and executive roles. This will include the Aspiring Chief Executive programme and interventions to attract new talent, and to better identify and develop existing non-executive directors through the redesigned Aspiring Chair Programme, starting in spring 2025 support senior leaders to work in the most challenged systems by identifying existing talent and current barriers to deployment at pace, with a longer-term plan to ensure the most experienced and effective leaders are identified and supported to take on these roles, and we’ll set out this plan in spring 2025 https://lnkd.in/ewJFpZS7

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Tackling healthcare inequalities through innovation. Over 12 months, the Innovation for Healthcare Inequalities Programme (InHIP) has supported local teams across England to address healthcare inequalities. By focussing on the Core20PLUS5 priority areas, over 34,000 underserved individuals have benefited from improved access to healthcare innovations. Key achievements include: •      Boosting cancer screening uptake in underserved communities •      Delivering cardiovascular health checks in community hubs •      Collaborating with local organisations to overcome barriers to care Explore the case studies and recommendations in this Impact and learning report to see how innovation and collaboration are transforming healthcare. Read the report here: https://lnkd.in/eNC9EmWC Included in the case studies, as a result of our work in NHS Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board (ICB), there are now several colleagues “trusted communicators” who have the knowledge to continue to support their communities in accessing cancer screening services. Amy Miller Maxine Farmer Timothy Clarke

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