Workforce
“We will respond to the needs of the people we care for, adapt to new, improved ways of working, and work seamlessly with colleagues and partner organisations. We will continue to modernise the way we work and embrace technology. We will do this in a way that lives up to our core values. Together, we will create a great place to work and deliver a high quality healthcare service which is among the best in the world.”
In this section:
- NHSScotland 2020 Workforce Vision (Everyone Matters)
- Staff Governance
- HR Connect
- Workforce Plan
- Attendance Management
- Staff Experience (iMatter and Dignity at Work)
- Fitness to Practise
- Staff Engagement to Support Remobilisation Planning
- Personal Development Planning & Review (PDPR)
- Mandatory and Statutory Training
- Partnership Working
- Healthy Working Lives (HWL)
- Occupational Health Service (OHS)
- Carer Positive Scheme
- Disability Confident Scheme
- Equality, Diversity & Rights
- Valuing our Staff
NHSScotland 2020 Workforce Vision (Everyone Matters)
Everyone Matters is the workforce policy for NHSScotland - see the NHSScotland 2020 Workforce Vision (Everyone Matters) website
.
It supports the 2020 Vision for Healthcare in Scotland and the NHSScotland Healthcare Quality Ambitions of safe, effective and person centred.
The 2020 Workforce Vision Everyone Matters sets out the core values of NHSScotland which are:
- Care and compassion
- Dignity and respect
- Openness, honesty and responsibility
- Quality and teamwork
The five priorities within the implementation plan are:
- Healthy organisational culture
- Sustainable workforce
- Capable workforce
- Integrated workforce
- Effective leadership and management
In 2020/21, the Staff Governance Committee continued to focus its monitoring activities in respect of the national Staff Governance Standard:
As part of this work, the Committee received regular update reports and monitored issues relating to Personal Development Planning & Review (PDPR), attendance management, HR performance / employee relations activity, and staff engagement to support remobilisation planning.
The performance year 2020/21 underlined the continuing need to focus attention on key Staff Governance issues. The main priority area in terms of Staff Governance performance management continues to be the pursuit of the Attendance Management target of 5% absence.
The Staff Governance Annual Report 2020/21 provides full details of activity during the year:
Staff Governance Annual Reports
Staff Governance National Annual Monitoring Returns:
- Self-Assessment 2020/21
- Self-Assessment 2019/20 (no requirement due to Covid-19)
- Self-Assessment 2018/19
Staff Governance Committee Minutes can be found within the Board papers.
Visit the HR Connect online portal for HR information, to access policies, protocols, tools and templates.
In October 2019, the Board endorsed a new Clinical Model.
The Implementation Plan for this provides the framework for the Workforce Plan going forward together with the Common Staffing method defined by the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Bill.
Updates on the Workforce Plan can be found in the Board Papers.
One of the key achievements during the year was the significant reduction in sickness absence.
There were 432 referrals to the ‘Early Access to Support for You’ (EASY) service in 2020/21.
The top three reasons reported for absence were Mental Health, Musculoskeletal (back), Gastrointestinal, followed by Injury / Fracture, Coughs, Colds and Flu, Headache / Migraine and other
Key Performance Indicator (KPI)
Sickness absence.
The State Hospital’s local target for sickness absence is 5%; the national target is 4%. The sickness absence figure in 2020/21 was 5.30% compared to 5.92% in 2019/20.
In accordance with guidance set out in DL(2020)5 Coronavirus (Covid-19): National Arrangements for NHS Scotland Staff, staff absence and sickness related to Covid-19 was recorded as special leave and didnot count towards sickness absence triggers.
Staff Experience (iMatter and Dignity at Work)
During 2020, the National iMatter Staff Experience Continuous Improvement Programme was paused in recognition of the changing priorities due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In its place a National Everyone Matters Pulse Survey was introduced as the Staff Experience Measurement for 2020 to provide a flavour of the mood experienced in the organisation during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
A response rate of 48% was achieved which was favourable compared to other Boards, although locally there were fewer responses than for iMatter in 2019 (79%). Overall, The State Hospital had the nineth highest response rate among the Boards. The survey highlighted that staff felt their direct line manager cared about their health and wellbeing, and their work provided them with a sense of achievement.
As part of the Dignity at Work workstream, a story about promoting positive staff health and wellbeing was submitted. It described the numerous measures taken to promote both physical and mental health, and how the impact of this was being measured.
In 2020/21 all professional staff were registered and fit to practise.
Staff Engagement to Support Remobilisation Planning
A series of staff engagement activities took place across the site in 2020/21 to support recovery and renewal planning and to ensure learning informed future plans. Patient, career and volunteer feedback was also sought through a series of discussions.
The staff engagement activity proved an opportunity to ‘check in’ with staff and understand their experience of the recent changes. Staff engagement processes targeted specific groups such as Responsible Medical Officers (RMOs), clinical leaders, and staff from all levels and departments across the site. Over 250 staff members participated in engagement activities.
Personal Development Planning & Review (PDPR)
Monitoring of completion rates for the Personal Development Planning & Review (PDPR) process was kept under scrutiny throughout 2020/21.
Key Performance Indicator (KPI)
Staff have an approved PDP.
This indicator relates to the National Workforce Standards; measuring the percentage of staff with a completed Personal Development Plan (PDP) within the previous 12 months.
The PDP compliance level at 31 March 2021 was 82.30% - the reporting year averaging at 80.58%. This is a slight decrease from the 2019/20 figure of 86.68%. The target is 100%.
The reduction was due primarily to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the PDPR process and associated compliance. Factors such as staff absence and homeworking made it difficult in some cases to progress appraisals that were due or overdue.
Mandatory and Statutory Training
Mandatory and statutory training within the State Hospital is delivered through a combination of online training and attendance at off-job training courses. It includes training that must be completed by all staff (e.g. fire safety training), plus training that targets specific disciplines or staff groups (e.g. blood borne virus awareness training for clinical staff). A training matrix is in place that maps the statutory and mandatory training requirements for all job roles within the organisation.
Organisational compliance levels at 31 March 2021 were 92.6% for statutory training (94.5% the previous year) and 85.1% for mandatory training (85.9% the previous year). The decrease was attributed to Covid-19 and associated suspension of all non-critical face-to-face training courses from March to September 2020 and from January to March 2021.
The State Hospital’s Staff Partnership Forum is well established. Respective roles and responsibilities are recognised as are shared values and common purpose. These elements provide the basis for a continually improving partnership which has led to long-term solutions that work both for staff and, more importantly, for patients.
The Human Resources and Partnership Working Group (comprising a range of operational managers, Staff-Side representatives and HR staff) continues to work closely with Partnership Forum colleagues to develop and approve policies relating to staff governance.
Facility Time Reporting:
The State Hospital once again achieved the Gold Award for the work accomplished through Healthy Working Lives (HWL) despite part of the year’s programme of work being paused due to Covid-19. Organisational priority areas during 2020/21 related to mental health, musculoskeletal & physical health, and health, safety & wellbeing.
Activities and support provided by the HWL team during the year included:
- Resources for and within the Staff Wellbeing Centre.
- Peer support.
- Access to massage equipment, vibraplates & weighted hoops, table tennis for exercise, fun and socialising.
- Promotion of a number of wellness apps, and the ‘One Year No Beer’ initiative.
- Various quizzes and raffles with prizes to engage staff in their own wellbeing.
- Suicide Awareness campaign and MacMillan Coffee Morning.
- Facilitation of the ‘Go with Flo’ initiative to help staff quit smoking. • Seasonal flu vaccination programme.
- Events to give something back to the community during challenging times e.g. toy appeal for the Salvation Army and Clydesdale Food Bank fundraiser.
- Events to show staff they were valued e.g. gratitude lapels, and Long Service Awards were offered virtually.
- Focus on wellbeing including two online Wellbeing Masterclasses with Katie Brindle, promotion of the Wellbeing Toolkit provided on LearnPro, launch of a staff survey to assess wellness needs, and mindfulness sessions.
- Showing appreciation for staff e.g. soup and rolls for staff providing support to the Staff Wellbeing Centre, and afternoon tea boxes for staff on hubs.
- Help with managing weight through the Weigh2Go initiative.
- Promotion of physical health through desk exercises and chair yoga.
As in previous years, all activities and promotions were well received.
Good nutrition and healthier eating options continue to be promoted for patients and staff. The Staff Restaurant offers a range of healthy eating options and has a light, airy and contemporary feel. There is a self-service salad bar, a double soup station, two hot serveries, a dedicated take away section and a new coffee lounge where hot and cold refreshments are available 24 hours a day for staff to purchase.
The Hospital has a Sports & Fitness Centre that can be used by staff at certain times of the day / night.
Staff joining The State Hospital are automatically enrolled into the NHS Contributory Pension Scheme but staff have the option to opt out if they wish to do so.
- HWL Gold Report 2020/21 (No report as national evaluation in 2020/21 paused due to Covid-19)
- HWL Gold Report 2019/20
Occupational Health Service (OHS)
The Occupational Health Service (OHS) continues to play an important role in the physical and mental wellbeing of staff. In 2020/21 the Covid-19 pandemic necessitated many changes to service delivery including a significant move to telephone and video consultations, and an increase in specific advice on Covid-19 related issues including testing, vaccinations, risk assessment, long Covid, shielding and pregnancy.
There was an 88% average uptake of the Covid-19 vaccine in The State Hospital, and an increased need for Face Fit testing for mask usage with 350 staff being tested.
The majority of OHS services were used by Nursing which is to be expected being the largest staff group. This was followed by Housekeeping, Security and Administrative staff.
The OHS Annual Report 2020/21 by Salus highlighted:
- Mental health and musculoskeletal conditions remained the commonest disorders seen in State Hospital staff, with mental health disorders significantly exceeding musculoskeletal as the highest cause of absence and referrals.
- An increase in staff uptake of the Seasonal Flu Vaccination - 55.1% of staff compared to 43% last year. This remains slightly below the Scottish Government target of 60% for frontline staff. The NHS Scotland average for the same year was 39.6%.
- Following last year’s recommendation, Prevention and Management of Violence and Aggression (PMVA) screening was reviewed and moved to a self-assessment model. Screening reduced to 240 in year from 526 last year.
- Most staff accessing Physiotherapy were at work. The largest proportion of cases had spinal conditions.
- There were 184 management referrals (which demonstrated a 15% decrease compared to 216 in 2019/20) and 20 self-referrals (a significant decrease from around 37 the previous year).
- Six staff were referred to the Keil Centre (for psychological and counselling services for more acute and complex mental health issues) compared to 10 in 2019/20.
- 101 Hepatitis B vaccines were administered or bloods taken, 97 pre-placement health assessments were carried out, four staff completed the night worker assessment, one vision screening (eye test) was conducted, and supported by OHS there were 26 trained first aiders working throughout the Hospital.
Staff feedback on OHS service delivery during the year was positive with 75% rating the service as excellent in terms of support provided. Importantly all staff stated that the service had a positive impact on their work situation, and they would recommend the service to colleagues.
Accreditation relating to the Carer Positive Scheme remained at Level 1 (Engaged) in 2020/21. This means the organisation has awareness of carers within the workforce and has made a commitment to support carers through workplace policies / working practices, there is some evidence that systems and processes have been developed to support this, and carers are supported to identify themselves as carers and can access support within the organisation to help them manage their work and caring responsibilities.
The State Hospital has achieved Level 2 of the Disability Confident Scheme (which demonstrates that the Hospital is positive about employing people with a disability) and is working towards achieving Level 3.
Our Employment Monitoring Reports relate to employee information associated with public sector equality duty in compliance with Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 (the public sector equality duty) and The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Regulations 2012.
- Equal Pay Statement: April 2017
Employment Monitoring Reports including gender pay gap (every two years):
- Equalities Outcomes Update Report 2017-21 and 2021-25 including Workforce Monitoring and Non-Executive Board Member Gender Profile
- 2018/19