Psychiatry-UK

On this page

• Overview
• Shared direction and culture
• Capable, compassionate and inclusive leaders
• Freedom to speak up
• Workforce equality, diversity and inclusion
• Governance, management and sustainability
• Partnerships and communities
• Learning, improvement and innovation

Leaders were knowledgeable about issues and priorities relating to the quality and future of service. The service held regular governance and business meetings which addressed matters relating to the running of the service.

Staff told us leaders were visible and approachable. Senior staff worked closely with all staff to ensure a good quality service.

There was a clear vision and a strong set of embedded organisational values. The aims of the service were outlined within policies and procedures. The long-term goal was to work with health care partners such as the NHS to reduce waiting list for ADHD and ASD assessments.

The service developed its vision, values and strategy jointly with staff.

Risk management, quality assurance and clinical governance systems met the needs of the service, its patients and staff.

This service scored 64 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

Staff felt respected, supported and valued. They were proud to work for the service.

The service focused on the needs of patients and improving the patient experience. Staff were passionate about achieving positive outcomes for patients and spoke enthusiastically about the direction of the organisation.

Staff were engaged in conversations about the 'climate we create', and what this meant to them. Staff were invited to regular 'town hall' meetings, where everyone could meet together virtually.

The roadshows included sessions on what the organisation's values mean to staff and what was and was not working. The senior leadership team met around 200 staff members across the UK in groups. The organisational values were built into the appraisal system.

Managers had introduced an applicant tracking system to help manage their recruitment drive and had invested in a talent acquisition lead and an internal communications and engagement lead.

Sickness had been an issue with some staff groups so managers were engaging more with them Staff said they felt destabilised in the past. Managers were working towards improving the culture and moral by providing benefits and holidays entitlements. There was an occupational health team that supported staff back into work.

Managers made sure there were reasonable adjustments in place for neurodiverse employees.

Performance management was undertaken directly with the contracted employee. The medical secretary informed the management team if there were any issues and escalated to the relevant clinical team.

We did not look at Freedom to speak up during this assessment. There is no previous rating for the Well-led key question so we cannot yet publish a score for this area.

Human resources (HR) department took a lead with any cases of bullying or harassment in the workplace. The senior leadership team developed a 'no blame' culture for complaints and incidents.

Staff had the opportunity to speak up. The organisational business model meant there was a HR person aligned to each management team. Staff were able to access an employee support programme if needed.

Staff told us they could raise concerns and were encouraged to do so. They had confidence that these would be addressed.

There was an anonymous platform - Your Voice - used to speak up. Supporting people in the workforce was part of the organisation's future strategy.

The provider created a new leadership team after their service rapidly expanded. There was a need for experts to come in and unpick the pathway transformation.

Managers said they feel a new type of psychological safety within the organisation. They said it was a completely safe space. They felt that they could share new ideas and get support for their own development and transparency.

The senior leadership team had worked hard on the culture of the organisation; for example, organising roadshows across the country to talk about values, with the aim of bringing staff along on the journey with them. The CEO had created private feedback sessions for staff to send a message to the CEO directly. Staff were formally recognised for their achievements via the HR system.

The senior leadership team held staff focus groups throughout the last year to ask what benefits staff wanted to see.

Coping with the increase in demand had come through the transformation of the pathways. That came down to the leadership team acknowledging this was the issue. This enabled the senior leadership team to invest in the right areas. Staff believed the senior leadership team had been created with the right people.

The service was working to reduce waiting times on the care pathways and had a clear vision on future improvements.

The organisation worked with the London business school around a research programme about 6 months ago. The provider held a training contract with St George's Hospital around specialist interest sessions, where a clinician ran 6 -8 sessions.

The service encouraged and heard views and concerns from the public, patients, staff and external partners and acted on them when required.

The provider was governed by their contracts with the NHS contracts. They were required to have regular liaison for quality performance reporting with GPs. The provider met with the ICS monthly.

The provider used an incident reporting system to report and review incidents. All staff reported incidents on the system. The system graded the severity of the incident. Clinical leads and the patient safety manager held weekly Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) meetings. Incidents were reported up to the Board. The incident reporting system enabled wider learning from the NHS database. This system was linked to the NHS spine so staff could monitor incidents from patients on the waiting list.

The service had processes to manage current and future performance. Leaders had oversight of safety alerts, incidents and complaints.

The senior leadership team held staff focus groups throughout the last year to ask what benefits staff wanted to see. Due to the engagement with staff, the leadership team were able to devise new strategies to help staff cope with increase in demands for the services by investing in staff and technology.