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What matters to our patients, public and staff

  • Last modified date:
    14 November 2007
  • Gateway reference:
    9075

Over the past few months work has been underway to pull together and develop our understanding of what matters to patients, public and staff.   We need to do this if we are to connect the transformation of the NHS to these critical groups.  This is not about asking people for a wish-list of what they want, but about being clear on the things that really matter to them.  

For the NHS Chief Executives conference 5 and 6 November 2007, the DH produced a CD ROM providing an overview of this work along with some example materials and contact information for further support.  This material is now available via on the DH website.

Introduction

Over the past few months, work has been under way to pull together and develop our understanding of what matters to patients, public and staff. We need to do this if we are to connect the transformation of the NHS to these critical groups. This is not about asking people for a wish list of what they want, but about being clear on the things that really matter to them. Summaries of what we’ve learned so far are available on this CD ROM.

Better understanding needs to be allied with an improved ability to listen and respond. Being responsive nationally means using this insight to inform new policy and practices. Being responsive locally means having clarity about how to listen and respond to local needs.

This is work in progress. More needs to be done to develop and test these findings so that we can be clear about what we are here to do, and about the values and behaviours we need to embed across the service if we are to achieve our aims.

Understanding and acting upon what matters requires a culture that ‘looks out, not up’, and a particular style of leadership that builds confidence to act and be responsive. This will not happen over night; there is more for all of us to work on, but we must put this kind of insight at the heart of what we do.

One example of the kind of culture and leadership required can be seen in work going on across parts of the NHS to explore what good staff engagement looks like. An overview of this work is available on this CD ROM along with some example materials and contact information for further support.

Introduction from David Nicholson

David Nicholson

Thank you for coming along to the Chief Executive Conference.

When we met last April, I set out my intention to take forward work to identify those things that matter most to our patients, public and staff. Since then my team has been working with colleagues from across the NHS to develop and test these insights.

This is work in progress, but I thought it would be useful for you to have access to the latest emerging findings to help you to understand these national findings and consider how you can develop and use these in your own organisations.

I hope that the information and tools on this CD ROM will be helpful.

David Nicholson

What matters

Over the past few months, work has been underway to pull together and develop a deep understanding of what matters to our patients, public and staff. We need to do this if we are to connect the transformation of the NHS to these critical groups. This is not about asking people for a wish list of what they want, but about being clear on the things that really matter to them.

Better understanding needs to be allied with an improved ability to listen and respond. Being responsive nationally means using this insight to inform new policy and practices. Being responsive locally means having clarity about how to listen and respond to local needs.

What we’ve learned so far is outlined in the following summary.

Staff engagement

Twenty-three early adopters from across the NHS have been involved in exploring what constitutes a successful process for engaging with staff quickly and easily. This has been co-designed and tested within and across local organisations and communities, with ‘light touch’ regional sponsorship to enable sharing and learning.

The aim of the process has been to explore different and more compelling ways of working which can lead to better outcomes and results. To achieve this, the focus has been on framing a process, which engages with both hearts and minds, and on energising and mobilising staff.

Some further detail and example materials from this early work are provided below. They should not be viewed as a ‘toolkit’, but rather as information supportive of wider adoption that has emerged from this work with 23 early adopter sites. The process aims to support, coordinate and spread engaging ways of working to deliver better and more sustainable outcomes at a local level. The response from leaders and staff alike has been extremely positive.

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