Board Meeting - 18 September, Paper C. Communications and Engagement Development Plan

Transcription

1 Board Meeting - 18 September, 2014 Paper C Communications and Engagement Development Plan

2

3 Agenda Item 3 Paper C Board Meeting 18 September, 2014 Communications and Engagement Development Plan Director: Rob Checketts, Director of Communications Purpose 1. This report sets out the NHS Trust Development Authority s proposals for providing support and development for communications professionals and patient experience leads to enhance the care and treatment their NHS Trust Boards are able to provide to the patients and communities they serve. Executive Summary 2. In December 2013 the NHS Trust Development Authority published its Planning Framework Securing Sustainability, Planning guidance for NHS Trust Boards to , which sets out the expectation on NHS Trust Boards to deliver high standards in engaging patients, staff, stakeholders and local communities. Over the last 6 months the NHS Trust Development Authority has been working with senior communications leads from NHS Trusts to create a set of development opportunities that will: provide support and mentorship to new entrants into the NHS communications profession; provide a series of events targeted at building additional capability in NHS Trust communications teams; deliver a clear compact with NHS Trust communications teams in terms of day to day support, and explore what opportunities might be generated to specifically support aspiring leaders in the communications field. In addition to the work developed in partnership with communications leads, the NHS Trust Development Authority clinical quality team, under the leadership of the Director of Nursing, Peter Blythin, have developed two patient experience improvement tools one which helps NHS Trusts to monitor and compare performance, and another self-assessment tool to help organisations identify what more they can be doing to enhance their activities around patient experience. These programmes are underpinned by the day to day support provided by the NHS Trust Development Authority s patient experience lead, Julia Holding. 1

4 This paper sets out the approach the NHS Trust Development Authority is taking to develop activities to address the issues above. Introduction There has never been a more important time to have strong communications at the heart of the NHS. The need to meet growing expectations from patients, to involve staff in transforming the way we work and the care we provide, and to work closely with partners to deliver safe and effective local services in every community should be central to the agenda of every Trust Board and the role of NHS communications professionals is critical in getting this right. Despite this there has been very little support and development to enhance the role of NHS communications staff, either through training, professional development, mentorship or even day-to-day guidance as issues arise. In September 2014 the NHS TDA will publish Delivering Excellence in Communications and Engagement, which will aim to begin to address this, by setting out a framework of support and development opportunities for all levels of communication staff within NHS Trusts, focussing on four key areas: Capability and capacity building; Connecting with senior leaders; and, Day-to-day support; Strategic and operation reviews. The framework is designed to support NHS Trust Boards, through their communications teams, to better support them to meet their obligations as set out in the planning framework Securing Sustainability, Planning Guidance for NHS Trust Boards 2014/ /19 for delivering high standards in engaging patients, staff, stakeholders and their local community. The monthly events that the NHS TDA will put on, set out in this document, will not only help NHS communications staff share best practice and learn from each other, but may also count towards their professional development. The events are targeted on areas where it is clear, through regular interaction with NHS communications staff and Trust Boards, there is need for improvement or additional support to better deliver effective services for patients. This will build upon the opportunities that the NHS TDA already facilitates for senior communications leaders to come together to discuss current issues and connect with other parts of the health and social care system. Ensuring the right support is in place for less senior staff is also important. Some of the most senior communications staff in trusts have come forward to volunteer to provide mentorship opportunities to new and junior NHS communications professionals over the coming year with just over 40 places available. Delivering Excellence in Communications and Engagement will set out how staff can be nominated to take up this opportunity. 2

5 Over the course of the last year, the NHS TDA has also been approached to support NHS Trust Boards when things do not go right. NHS TDA regional communications advisers are on hand throughout the year to work with NHS Trusts when issues arise. Where concerns are more fundamental about an organisation s approach to communications, the NHS TDA can support Trust Boards by undertaking a strategic and operational review, which looks at every aspect of the Board s communications and engagement strategy to identify where improvements can be made. More than a decade ago the NHS published Shifting the Balance of Power, which formalised the role of the NHS communications professional but which focussed on media handling and briefing. Today, successful NHS communications professionals support everything from helping teams to transform services to engaging with local patient groups. Crucially, they have a role to play in making sure that services are responsive to patients and that NHS Trust Boards are listening. Delivering Excellence in Communications and Engagement is designed to support NHS communications professionals to be the best they can be and to maximise the impact they can have on delivering their Trust Board s ambitions to improve the care and services provided to patients and the local community. Understanding the communications agenda High performing organisations always have excellent communications and engagement at the heart of what they do. Throughout the NHS we know that staff, patient, public and stakeholder confidence in an organisation relies on high quality information about services and care, strong engagement around the modernisation of services and good relationships with the local community. None of this is new and indeed the first big push to give greater autonomy and emphasis for strong communications teams within trusts was outlined in the 2001 document, Shifting the Balance of Power¹. Huge strides have since been taken throughout the NHS to invest in building communications teams but historically there has been little investment in providing development, mentoring and training opportunities for those teams. The need to communicate the drive towards improving patient safety and excellence in care through initiatives such as Safer Staffing and Sign up to Safety; the patient choice agenda coupled with the increasing move towards more transparency in data, all assist patients and the public to make an informed decision on where they can feel safe in accessing treatment and care. Communications teams need to be at the heart of those initiatives supporting staff to deliver and ensuring that patients and the community have access to the information they need in a way they can understand. The current agenda for communications teams is considerable, with a whole range of competing pressures on their workload, including: The need to engage with staff, patients, local communities and stakeholders has increased and was recognised in the Robert Francis report into Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, which highlighted clear areas of improvement within the communications and engagement function; 3

6 Openness and Transparency/Duty of Candour agendas expect proactive publication of information available in many formats alongside the proactive encouragement of feedback; Supporting staff and clinical teams to transform their services by engaging with patient groups and supporting the design of new services; The NHS Act 2006 details in section 242 and 244 the consultation and engagement requirements that NHS organisations must adhere to; Planning guidance from TDA and Monitor make clear the communications and engagement expectations on Trust Boards and will measure organisations performance in this area; Competition is increasingly impacting on the healthcare market with some hospitals competing directly for elective care patients and embarking on entering into other markets such as primary care; Competitive market for the best staff has an impact on recruitment. Need to be able to tell your story to attract high calibre staff; Ensuring, where necessary, an NHS Trust can deliver to the 24/7news agenda What are the expectations of NHS Trust Boards? There are a range of expectations and demands being placed on Trusts Boards relating to communications and engagement. Appendix One sets out some of those expectations through the lens of NHS TDA requirements, Monitor requirements and some of the additional expectations now being placed on NHS Trust Boards following the publication of the Francis Report in Creating a sustainable approach to development and support for NHS communicators Over the last 12 months, the NHS TDA has worked closely with a range of different senior communicators from across the NHS provider landscape to develop a package of initiatives that will: Support them in their day-to-day work; Help them to develop their capability and capacity; Provide opportunity to share and learn from best practice in the NHS and beyond; Support new entrants to the NHS communications profession; Help to develop aspiring leaders in the future 4

7 As a result of this work, we have developed a framework of activity based on the following four components: 1. INCREASING CAPACITY AND CAPABILITY To sustainably build capacity and capability in teams it is important that we develop a range of ways to maximise impact for the short and long term. There are three components to increasing capacity and capability and include: Practical workshops available for all communications and engagement staff across the NHS; Formal CIM/CIPR training; The development of future leaders. Practical workshops Training workshop programmes have been developed to support communications and engagement staff on all aspects of communications including marketing, engagement, corporate social responsibility, stakeholder relations, branding, media relations and social media. All are designed to support the spread of expertise across teams, setting the expectation alongside encouraging best practice. The program for the year ahead is as follows: Name of workshop Winter planning practical guide to supporting the organisations winter planning with how to guides and supporting the development of system wide partnerships Strategy development practical workshop on understanding how to develop strategies and providing frameworks as a guide includes getting the bread and butter right, branding and through to innovations in communications and engagement Date 10 October November

8 Media relations and monitoring sharing the importance of good media relationships and the importance of monitoring and sharing this at board level Patient Experience - Bringing Patient Experience to life in an open and transparent way ensuring communication and engagement teams understand their role in supporting the important patient experience agenda making sure the information derived from patient experience activity is accessible for all and promoted to support the increasing drive for openness and transparency Marketing strategic positioning of marketing including market share analysis and how this should drive proactive communications and engagement with stakeholders including GPs Social and new media practical workshop around the need for a responsive website and the interdependencies social media has alongside a practical demonstration on the use of social media in a healthcare setting Engagement and consultation the do s and don'ts around engagement and consultations and the importance of independent research Building better relationships in the local communities taking a corporate and social responsibility approach to community relations and managing stakeholder relationships Internal connectivity to staff and teams connecting the Board to wards supporting excellent internal communications 16 December January February March April May June

9 Campaigning sharing the role of campaigning in healthcare and how a common approach can be utilised to support areas such as recruitment, listening to patients and infection control Crisis communications practical workshop to support crisis communications planning Foundation management covering the development of a Council of Governors through to on-going management and communications with Governors and members 9 July September October 2015 Formal CIPR/CIM training Although the workshops are designed to provide practical support to NHS communications teams, the NHS TDA is keen, wherever possible, to formalise this approach to learning and development. Therefore in addition to the practical workshops, Trusts can nominate staff to complete formal Chartered Institute of Marketing/Chartered Institute of Public Relations qualifications, supporting individuals at all levels of qualifications in a range of cohorts. Those wishing to nominate should do so by applying to the TDA using the form provided by 31 October Development of future leaders Historically there has been very little support for aspiring leaders with an NHS communications background. Although NHS communicators have had access to programmes such as Top Leaders and aspiring leader s programmes run by former SHAs, there has not been a specific programme of work targeted at developing the skills of aspiring communications leaders in the NHS. We are currently working with a small cohort of NHS senior communications leaders and Buckingham New University to develop a programme that would support aspiring leaders to develop their skills and work toward an MA/MBA in healthcare communications. Whilst these discussions are currently at an informal stage we hope to be able to deliver a programme that will support between 12 and 15 senior leaders with the aspiration to start in the next academic year. A further update will be presented to the Board when these proposals are further developed. 2. CONNECTING WITH SENIOR LEADERS Since its inception the NHS TDA has employed a cohort of junior communications staff with a view to developing and enhancing their skills through the period that they work for the NHS TDA. To date, the performance of these staff, each of whom have a bespoke development plan, has been very encouraging. 7

10 Working with a cohort of 14 senior communications professionals from NHS Trusts we have worked to look at what we can do to more broadly support new entrants into the NHS communications profession. Each of the senior leaders involved in this work have agreed to provide mentorship for up to 3 junior communications staff that are not directly employed by their own organisation. Communications leads from across the 97 NHS Trusts will be able to nominate staff to participate in the mentorship scheme, and it is hoped that this will serve to enhance the support and development offer for more junior NHS communications staff going forward. 3. STRATEGIC AND OPERATIONAL REVIEWS Good communication that engages staff, patients and stakeholders is vital to organisational success. The NHS TDA has completed a number of reviews in Trusts to establish whether the communication function is delivering strategic, high level communication counsel and insight for the Trust Board and executive leadership. The purpose of an NHS TDA led review is to give trusts an assessment of their current communications operation in order that they can consider how to improve it. The review looks at the resourcing level of the communications function, the range of skills and depth of experience of the team, in addition to media and reputation management, crisis communications, stakeholder engagement and communication evaluation mechanisms. 4. DAY-TO-DAY SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE NHS communications leads are often at the forefront of any issues that involved crisis management in the NHS. The NHS TDA has created a team of communications advisors that are available to provide day to day support and advice for communications professionals in NHS Trusts when issues arise. The communications advisors, who each oversee a regional patch, have first level responsibility for relationship management with local NHS communications teams. As well as supporting NHS communications professionals with day to day issues each communication advisor hosts monthly teleconferences with their regional communications leads to discuss any issues and pressures that are arising more generally and each host a quarterly meeting with NHS communications leads to ensure that any opportunities for sharing best practice are fully exploited. 5. PATIENT EXPERIENCE Whilst Board responsibility for patient experience often sits with the Director of Nursing, it is also absolutely essential that communications professionals have insight and input into the activity within their Trusts, in addition to understanding and building the external links and relationships that facilitate the continuity of high quality care. 8

11 There is an abundance of good practice in NHS Trusts and many have demonstrated that they actively listen, respond, act on and learn from patient feedback. In autumn 2013 the NHS TDA brought together a number of Trusts to share best practice and work together to co-produce two Patient Experience improvement tools, one which helps trusts to monitor and compare performance, and the other a self-assessment and improvement Framework for Patient Experience. The NHS TDA has an ongoing programme of support and development activities designed to build capacity and capability in Trusts. To date over 60 staff have been trained on the use of the Patient Experience tools, a range of workshops on the use of the tools have been delivered including 4 regional workshops for Trust Chairs, and direct support has been provided to over 40 NHS Trusts who have requested direct support on enhancing their approach to patient experience. 6. E-HUB We are currently developing a central online hub to support NHS communications leads to share best practise case studies, guidance and hints and tips on all aspects of communications and engagement. This is in response to a significant demand for an on-line resource centre which the NHS TDA is in discussion with the Department of Health, Monitor and the Care Quality Commission about developing. The E-hub will, in all likelihood be a resource open to communications leads from across the whole of the NHS, not just the NHS Trust sector. 7. CONCLUSION Delivering Excellence in Communications and Engagement sets out an ambitious programme to deliver leadership and development opportunities to NHS communications professionals. Whilst the programme is sponsored by the NHS TDA, it is only possible with the support of NHS communications leads across the country. The proposals contained within this document will help to ensure we have a more systematised approach to sharing best practice and enhancing the skills of NHS communications professionals at every level. Ultimately this should help both NHS communicators and Trust Boards to deliver their core objective to enhance the care they provide to the patients and communities they serve. ¹ Shifting the Balance of Power within the NHS DH July

12 Appendix One Body Expectation Evidence Required NHS TDA 1. Every healthy NHS Engagement of patients Trust Board to have a Engagement of planned strategy on all stakeholders levels of engagement that Engagement of they should risk rate and update on a regular basis communities Engagement of public Board papers confirming above Campaigning material to support above 2. Every NHS Trust Board to have a detailed programme of measuring patient and staff satisfaction, in addition to the national survey and can demonstrate improvements 3. Every NHS Trust Board must have in place mechanisms which demonstrate they are listening to staff and patients 4. Every NHS Trust Board to demonstrate strong stakeholder relationships and partnership working to ensure local community involvement 5. Every NHS Trust Board to have a comprehensive rolling programme of communications and engagement to support above and a detailed way of measuring effectiveness of activity Comprehensive programme of patient experience, the findings of which are tracked and published at a ward level Perception research to understand general satisfaction with services Staff experience tracking, in addition to the national staff survey Demonstration of improvement Communications material Log of feedback and actions Internal communications Media strategy Stakeholders plan Membership strategy Communications and engagement strategy Number of people engaged 10

13 Monitor The Francis Report 6. Every NHS Trust Board to demonstrate their knowledge of communications and engagement risks and crisis communications management 1. Every Trust Board to demonstrate how they will implement and adhere to the FT requirements of creating a representative membership and council of governors and provide a clear program of how they will be engaged and communicated with 2. The Trust Board need to demonstrate that, as part of an FT pipeline, consultation with stakeholders and the public/patients has been sought. 3. The Trust Board need to demonstrate that it promotes a quality focussed culture throughout the Trust and the Board actively engage patients, staff and other stakeholders 1. The Trust Boards should make available via their website, through quality accounts, full and accurate information about their compliance with each standard which applies to them 2. The Board and Council of Governors should provide an agreed published description of the role of their Governors and how it is planned that they perform it 3. Methods of registering a comment or complaint 11 Risk register Crisis communications plan Membership strategy Engagement plan Consultation plan Feedback from consultation Internal communications Public and staff research Full compliance with publication requirements Communications feedback

14 must be readily accessible and easily understood. Multiple gateways need to be provided to patients both during their treatment and after its conclusion 4. Providers must constantly promote to their public their desire to receive and learn from comments and complaints 5. Any public statement made by a healthcare organisation about performance must be truthful and not misleading 6. Performance information must be readily available on Trust websites 7. All staff and visitors need to be reminded to comply with hygiene requirements 8. Results and analysis of patient feedback including qualitative information needs to be made available to all stakeholders in as near as real time as possible Log of comments and responses Communications material Publication of complaint themes and action taken as a result Communications material Internal and external communications Patient experience information Publication and promotion of results 12