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NHS staff to be offered help to cope with growing burdens NHS staff to be offered help to cope with growing burdens
(4 months later)
A&E units are so busy they have been likened to warzones, a huge NHS reorganisation has bred confusion while dealing with patients, illness and death is never easy so it is no wonder hospital staff may be increasingly getting stressed and burned out.A&E units are so busy they have been likened to warzones, a huge NHS reorganisation has bred confusion while dealing with patients, illness and death is never easy so it is no wonder hospital staff may be increasingly getting stressed and burned out.
Now, in an inititaive which developed in the US, growing numbers of healthcare professionals are being offered the chance to attend regular private sessions where they can talk honestly about the pressures they face in providing care, the emotional burden of their jobs and isolation some can feel despite being part of a multi-specialty care team.Now, in an inititaive which developed in the US, growing numbers of healthcare professionals are being offered the chance to attend regular private sessions where they can talk honestly about the pressures they face in providing care, the emotional burden of their jobs and isolation some can feel despite being part of a multi-specialty care team.
In recognition of the challenges faced by NHS personnel, the Department of Health (DH) is putting £650,000 into increasing the number of hospitals which offer staff such sessions from 15 to 55. The winners, they hope, will be patients' quality and safety of care, not just the wellbeing of doctors and nurses who come along.In recognition of the challenges faced by NHS personnel, the Department of Health (DH) is putting £650,000 into increasing the number of hospitals which offer staff such sessions from 15 to 55. The winners, they hope, will be patients' quality and safety of care, not just the wellbeing of doctors and nurses who come along.
Called Schwartz Centre Rounds, they are monthly, hour-long get-togethers where staff from every department in the hospital open up about work-related issues that are on their minds in a confidential and supportive setting. Already used in 320 hospitals and other health facilities in the US they are credited with helping staff communicate better with patients and workmates and be more compassionate, and feel more valued and better equipped to handle the ups and downs that healthcare involves.Called Schwartz Centre Rounds, they are monthly, hour-long get-togethers where staff from every department in the hospital open up about work-related issues that are on their minds in a confidential and supportive setting. Already used in 320 hospitals and other health facilities in the US they are credited with helping staff communicate better with patients and workmates and be more compassionate, and feel more valued and better equipped to handle the ups and downs that healthcare involves.
The DH is expanding the number of hospitals offering the sessions after Robert Francis QC's landmark report into the Mid Staffs hospital care scandal endorsed them as a way of tackling what he called the "social and emotional challenges associated with their jobs" and how staff work together. His 31-month public inquiry into the estimated 400-1,2000 avoidable deaths at Stafford hospital between 2005 and 2009 found huge problems with the NHS's often "self-serving" culture and recommended sweeping changes.The DH is expanding the number of hospitals offering the sessions after Robert Francis QC's landmark report into the Mid Staffs hospital care scandal endorsed them as a way of tackling what he called the "social and emotional challenges associated with their jobs" and how staff work together. His 31-month public inquiry into the estimated 400-1,2000 avoidable deaths at Stafford hospital between 2005 and 2009 found huge problems with the NHS's often "self-serving" culture and recommended sweeping changes.
"Shocking failures of care, like Mid Staffs and Winterbourne View, demonstrate the need for more compassionate care right across hospitals and care homes", said Dr Dan Poulter, the health minister, who is also an obstetrician. "As a doctor I know how rewarding it is to care for patients, but that there isn't always the right culture that allows staff to share the challenges they have faced while caring for patients.""Shocking failures of care, like Mid Staffs and Winterbourne View, demonstrate the need for more compassionate care right across hospitals and care homes", said Dr Dan Poulter, the health minister, who is also an obstetrician. "As a doctor I know how rewarding it is to care for patients, but that there isn't always the right culture that allows staff to share the challenges they have faced while caring for patients."
Evidence from America, and from the 15 NHS hospitals that have so far introduced them, shows that Schwartz Centre Rounds "help hospital and care staff support each other and learn about how to deal better with tough situations, and spend more time focussed on caring for patients in a compassionate way", he added.Evidence from America, and from the 15 NHS hospitals that have so far introduced them, shows that Schwartz Centre Rounds "help hospital and care staff support each other and learn about how to deal better with tough situations, and spend more time focussed on caring for patients in a compassionate way", he added.
Seven in ten NHS staff who have attended such sessions have found them to be either excellent or exceptional, according to research into their effectiveness conducted by the King's Fund health thinktank.Seven in ten NHS staff who have attended such sessions have found them to be either excellent or exceptional, according to research into their effectiveness conducted by the King's Fund health thinktank.
Staff talking in an open, honest way at the encounters about a blunder that has occured or patient who has died unexpectedly may be more valuable than waiting for the outcome of internal inquiries, Poulter said. The fact that everyone from surgeons to healthcare assistants attend also helps break down the barriers to communication posed by the NHS's still very hierarchical structures, and help staff suggest changes that would benefit patients, such as extended lunchtimes so that patients do not miss their meal because of doctors' rounds, he added.Staff talking in an open, honest way at the encounters about a blunder that has occured or patient who has died unexpectedly may be more valuable than waiting for the outcome of internal inquiries, Poulter said. The fact that everyone from surgeons to healthcare assistants attend also helps break down the barriers to communication posed by the NHS's still very hierarchical structures, and help staff suggest changes that would benefit patients, such as extended lunchtimes so that patients do not miss their meal because of doctors' rounds, he added.
Jocelyn Cornwell, director of the Point of Care Foundation charity, which the DH is paying to expand Schwartz Centre Rounds, said the meetings would provide "a panacea", though not a complete answer, to the "cultural problem at the heart of healthcare in this country which has been stubbornly persistent, despite the genuine efforts of healthcare professionals to make services more compassionate and sensitive to the needs of patients."Jocelyn Cornwell, director of the Point of Care Foundation charity, which the DH is paying to expand Schwartz Centre Rounds, said the meetings would provide "a panacea", though not a complete answer, to the "cultural problem at the heart of healthcare in this country which has been stubbornly persistent, despite the genuine efforts of healthcare professionals to make services more compassionate and sensitive to the needs of patients."
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