Sheffield NHS hospital bosses focus on staff care following pandemic

Two leaders of Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the Northern General and Royal Hallamshire Hospitals, told Sheffield councillors that staff support was a key priority as the service continues to get back on track following the pandemic, which has led to longer waiting lists, another major area for action.

The trust’s assistant chief executive Sandi Carman and quality director Angie Legge presented their annual quality report to a meeting of the council’s health scrutiny sub-committee.

Ms Legge said that initiatives such as a new Elective Orthopaedic Centre at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital, carrying out non-urgent surgery, will “hopefully make a real difference as it goes forward”.

She said the pandemic caused “significant pressures on staff which took an emotional toll, followed by the cost-of-living crisis and then strikes, which again impacted on our ability to deliver. We are trying very hard to support our staff through this.

“We have inflation buster meals and are working very hard in influencing our PROUD values across the organisation, which is really about helping people move forward with a positive culture that’s very much led from the top to try and make things run smoothly.”

‘Requires improvement’

The NHS PROUD values are patient first, respect, ownership, unity and delivery. A set of PROUD behaviours attached to them is expected of all staff in dealing with patients and each other.

Ms Legge said that the trust was delighted that the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has now found no areas of its work described as ‘inadequate’. The trust achieved ‘good’ ratings in the ‘caring’ and ‘effective’ sections of its CQC inspections.

Ms Legge said that a lot of work has taken place on maternity services, which had been judged inadequate by the CQC in a 2021 inspection report published last year.

“The feedback is that the trust is doing well,” said Ms Legge, although the CQC expectation that progress continues led to an overall rating of ‘still requires improvement’.

She said maternity services had showed significant improvements. “We have innovations like Tommy’s app. We were the fourth trust in the country to bring this in – it is just a very simple electronic process by which we can ensure all mothers get exactly the same pre-process to help avoid incidents or problems occurring or at least flag them up, so hopefully we can address them.”

Three of the trust’s objectives have now been met, said Ms Legge, and it is still working on issues around dementia. An “amazing amount of work” has taken place, she said, including creating dementia-friendly wards and areas.

‘Dedicated staff’

Coun Ann Whitaker said: “I am really glad you had a section in the report on caring for staff. Obviously without its wonderful, dedicated staff the NHS wouldn’t exist and I think it is really important for staff to feel valued and to feel that they are cared for and cared about.”

She added: “I have a daughter who works as a midwife for another trust and that’s sadly lacking on a lot of occasions, which means staff go off ill because they have mental health problems and anxiety about going into work.”

Ms Carman said the leadership team believe they can never do enough for staff and are always looking to do more. She added there is zero tolerance for inappropriate behaviours.

Coun Abtisam Mohamed asked about accessibility, saying she has to translate letters from the hospital for people and often encounters medical jargon. She said one 24-year-old man had no idea what his diagnosis was because he got a letter full of “doctory language”.

Ms Legge said she would look into making improvements.

Coun Mohamed also asked about staff vacancies. Ms Carman said: “We are in the best position with nursing vacancies for many years,” adding: “The intensity of those roles has changed – a shift is a really tough call for individuals.”

Strike action

Significant waiting lists also have an impact on staff and their ability to deliver care, so the trust aims to ensure that all jobs are manageable. A lot of work has gone into support services for staff, including a 24-hour support line, plus other health and well-being initiatives.

The aim is to ensure that staff want to come to work in Sheffield hospitals and stay, said Ms Carman, although she admitted that some workers are retiring or moving on because of the impact of Covid.

Coun Sophie Thornton asked about what happens during industrial action. Ms Legge said that a silver command is in place at executive level. The hospitals try to deliver as many non-emergency services as they can on strike days but safety is always the priority.

She added: “I have to say our staff is amazing, they are brilliant at stepping up and looking at what we could do and how we could ensure and maintain delivery across wards. Pharmacists were stepping up and consultants were stepping up and doing the roles of junior doctors.”

Ms Carman added: “We have tried to frame this as a national issue. We have tried really hard to maintain good dialogue with individuals who are taking strike action, for example go and visit them on the picket line. We just maintain that conversation.

‘Very frustrating’

“For those individuals taking strike action it’s been a real significant step for them, it’s not taken lightly.”

In answer to a question from committee chair Coun Ruth Milsom about how the outcome of the dispute will affect staff stability, she said she wanted to see all staff paid a fair wage for the work that they do.

Coun Milsom added: “You are trying to make Sheffield Teaching Hospitals somewhere staff want to stay. You’re probably doing all you can at a local level.

“It’s very frustrating that it’s out of your hands.”

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