We engaged hundreds of staff, consulted with patient representatives and researched other organisations to help compile the charter, which sets out clear expectations of ‘what we expect to see from staff’ and what ‘staff can expect from the Trust’ as an employer.
Alongside the staff charter we have also produced a personal responsibility framework (PRF), to support and underpin its values, which give examples of the behaviours we would wish to see and those we would not wish to see, to help us create a positive, caring working environment.
Over the coming months, we’ll be taking a closer look at the charter and how it links in with each of our core values. The first being ‘patient-centred’
Being patient centred is about putting our patients at the heart of everything we do, listening and responding to their needs and wishes and the charter’s ethos goes hand-in-hand with this.
The charter states that we expect our staff to give ‘full commitment to provide high quality, safe patient care and support their families and carers when our patients wish or need them to be involved’.
In turn the Trust is ‘committed to creating the environment and providing support and the resources required to provide excellent, safe care’.
Keeping our patients, their families and carers up-to-date with the treatment being delivered, the reasons behind it and ensuring we communicate with integrity, honesty and respectfulness is at the very heart of the charter.
In addition, the personal responsibility framework urges staff to ‘give time to care and listen to patients, responding to their needs’ and engaging ‘with all members of the MDT to ensure they share and have up-to-date patient care information’. For those that are leaders within our Trust, their commitment to ‘fully support and encourage their team to deliver the care patients, families and carers need’ is also expected.
We know that delivering our charter is ambitious and will take time to fully embed, but it forms an integral part of our overall 2021 roadmap to a ‘different Lincolnshire’ and a ‘great ULHT’.
You can read the full PRF for patient-centred along with the complete staff charter here>>
Dr Neill Hepburn, ULHT’s medical director said that the staff charter is an important piece of work to enable all our staff, current and new, to understand what’s expected of them at ULHT. He urged us all to take the time to read the charter and get involved with its continuing development: “Help us to create an environment where we can all work effectively to provide an excellent service for our patients,” he said.
Next time we take a look at ‘safety’. How does the charter link into this core value?
