WORK RELATED STRESS: CASE STUDIES

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• WORK RELATED STRESS CASE STUDIES

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Next 10 minutes

• Detail actions taken by NHS Trusts and a County
  Council to tackle stress
• Summarise the resulting outcomes
• Objective
• Highlight that it is possible to tackle stress
  successfully to the benefit of staff
• Secure your backing

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West Dorset General Hospitals NHS Trust

• Complaint regarding work related stress 2003
• Investigation identified concerns were valid
• Trust unwilling to take action to address issue
• Improvement Notice issued requiring risk
  assessment of work-related stress
• HSE provided support to comply with Notice

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Action taken by Trust

• Surveyed staff to seek their views on
• Forms and degrees of stress
• Contributory factors
• Changes that could cut stress.
• Identified concerns with
• Inadequate information
• Inadequate support
• Lack of involvement in change
• Job demands
• Inappropriate behaviour.

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Action taken by Trust

• Set up a steering committee
• Shared results of survey with staff
• Consulted staff on specific issues
• Produced a SMART action plan

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Action taken by Trust

• Utilised more permanent staff and less agency
  staff
• Training for managers on stress risk assessments
• Took action on long standing bullying issues -
  better implementation of bullying and harassment
  policies and procedures
• Allowed locally owned rota scheduling
• Devolved more budget to ward/unit level to
  increase control at local level

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Outcomes

• Trust Chief Executive and HR Director vocal in
  support of the benefits of the work carried out
• Safety and Union representatives applaud the
  changes, particularly in attitudes
• New enthusiasm amongst staff and reps for health
  and safety volunteers for dept health and
  safety leads and committees

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Hinchingbrooke Healthcare NHS Trust

• NHS National Survey Trust in the 20 of trusts
  with the highest degree of work pressure felt by
  staff
• Perception middle management acted as a damp
  proof course inhibiting both downward and upward
  communication flows
• Action plan produced backed by Trusts board
  involving staff at all levels

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Action taken

• Surveyed all staff using HSEs indicator tool
• Survey analysed and results shared widely with
  staff
• Report for each managerial area sent out to
  Directorates to discuss with staff, identify
  solutions and produce action plans

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Action taken

• Produced booklet Managing stress at Work Support
  for Managers and Staff
• Measures taken to improve predictions of patient
  demand and to provide appropriate staffing levels
• Every job advertised now has a recently reviewed
  job description and candidate specification,
  followed by careful recruitment and selection, to
  ensure right person, right job

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Action taken

• Expectation management will thank staff
  measured by a question in the annual survey
• All staff to have a quality annual Performance
  Development Review sets joint objectives, job
  targets and personal development plans supported
  by routine meetings over the year
• Introduced communication strategy
• Chief Executive monthly walkabout meetings
• All mgrs hold monthly one hour briefing group
  meetings with staff for two way communication
• Weekly staff newsletter and monthly staff
  magazine

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Action taken

• Mgrs all required to undertake effective
  attendance management to maximise staffing
  levels, manage return to work and support staff
• Emphasis on management development
• Introductory Core Management Skills programme (3
  days)
• Essential Management Skills programme (7days)

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Outcomes

• Staff sickness absence down from 6 (Oct 03) to
  3.8 (Oct 05)
• Repeated survey 05 huge improvement in demands
• Hospital now in the 20 of Trusts with the lowest
  degree of work pressure felt by staff (was the in
  the 20 highest)
• Number of reports to OH of stress went up
  reflecting greater awareness of the issue and
  willingness to seek help

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Somerset County Council

• High levels of absence and particularly
  health-related sickness
• Enthusiasm from Trades Unions and Elected Members
  within the Council to provide a healthy place to
  work to encourage high performance standards, but
  not at the cost of its people
• Ran a Quality of Working Life Audit 2001/02 to
  assess levels and causes of work-related stress
• Project team (including TU representation) formed
  to draft corporate action plan responding to
  issues raised by audit involved consulting
  management and staff on possible solutions

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Action taken

• Corporate wide action
• Guidance and training for mgrs on Managing
  Pressure and Stress
• Revised process for performance review and
  development training for both mgrs and staff in
  new process to maximise its effectiveness
• Conflict resolution training for staff who
  interface with the public
• Updated flexible working policy to enable more
  flexible deployment of staff via secondments/job
  rotation/job swaps
• Sickness absence management training for mgrs

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Action taken

• Directorate specific action Social Services
• Working hours of Social Workers actively
  monitored by management
• Training social workers in post qualifying
  qualifications enabling them to be appointed to
  senior social worker roles
• Better locum cover for social care vacancies

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Outcome

• Reduction of sickness absence from 10.75 days in
  2001/02 to 8.29 days in 2003/04
• Net cost saving of 1.57 million

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• Any questions?