Autumn Newsletter - Flipbook - Page 4
Many people have shared their stories about shame
and all have conveyed an overriding sense that they
did want their entire career to be defined by this one
negative event (whether it be an incident or bad news
story). This can so often become the case when
doctors, nurses and leaders get it wrong, either in the
clinical setting or otherwise and they have felt
stigmatised or labelled and they end up leaving their
posts voluntarily or otherwise.
The NHS needs to get much better at co-producing
compassionate responses and there are important
messages that the NHS can learn from the lived
experience of staff and senior personnel. By listening,
and learning from those with experience of serious
incidents or shame the NHS might be able to create an
approach to learning that is strengths based,
compassion informed, recovery focused and helps
individuals, teams and organisations build their
resilience.
Michael West reminds us that innovation (and learning)
is inextricably linked to compassionate leadership.
Indeed, the new Chief Inspector of the Care Quality
Commission recently implored the CQC to become
more ‘friendly’ is part of a growing national recognition
that the NHS will thrive better in a compassionate
rather than persecutory context. Creating
compassionate care cultures remains an ambition, and
an essential one at that. There is still a lot to do to
create the conditions where compassion can flourish in
all quarters.
Our top ten tips for enhancing compassionate
leadership are:
1. Take every opportunity to notice the emotional state
of your colleagues.
2. Make every interaction an opportunity to really listen
to their concerns, interests and passions.
3. Be relationally aware, and use the phone rather
than email to communicate and build relational
presence.
4. Say ‘thank you’ to colleagues as often as possible,
demonstrate appreciation and that you value them.
5. Encourage reflection and opportunities to share
learning, value failure as an opportunity to grow and
develop.
6. Create safe spaces in your team, and contribute to
a sense of belonging in your team.
7. Encourage debate, valuing differences in your team
and the shared humanity we all experience.
8. Encourage the celebration of all achievements,
even small and seemingly insignificant ones, to
model positivity and appreciation.
9. Start meetings with positive patient stories and
achievements and reinforce mutual benefits and
person centred-ness of your team.
10. Look after yourself, be kind to you, have breaks
when needed, ask for help and remember you can
only be responsible for your own emotional
responses, not others.
Steve.trenchard@mentalhealthstrategies.co.uk
Under lock and key
Improving the long-term mental health care of people with
learning disabilities and/or autism
In the last few years there has been a necessary focus on the treatment of people with learning disabilities, autism
and long-term mental health conditions. Answering important questions about whether people are being looked after
in the right places, with the right treatment and care pathway. The right support is fundamental to improving and
maintaining the quality of life and lived experience for this group of service-users; we help you to understand how you
are meeting current standards and ensuring optimal practice around important factors such as restrictive practice.
Are people and families still let down?
Providers of healthcare to vulnerable people must meet an
increasingly high set of expectations around care quality
as required by commissioners and external regulators.
Despite this, there are still often concerns raised in relation
to:
• inappropriate hospital admissions;
• length of stay in hospitals and residential institutions
(which are often long distances away from the homes
and families of service-users);
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excessive use of restraint and restrictive practices;
a lack of involvement from people, families and carers
in their own treatment planning;
oversight, assurance and governance in relation to
care quality, is weak; and
a lack of transparency and robust investigation when
serious harm or death occurs.
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