STEM to STEAM Conferences
In October 2021, the Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP, former Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, asked General Sir Gordon Messenger and Dame Linda Pollard, to examine the state of leadership and management in the health and social care sector.
Their findings included that there was a lack of consistency and coordination in the way that leadership is trained and valued. Furthermore, “institutional inadequacy” has developed over time.
This landmark independent 2022 report has focussed the Government on the biggest shake-up in health and social care leadership in a generation to improve patient care.
STEM to STEAM Conference 1
Holistic Healthcare Leadership
7th September 2022
The impact of the Arts on Healthcare leadership
We learnt how the content from a heath and wellbeing programme for Musicians was entwined into an MSc Module for Healthcare leaders. The experience resulted in seasoned healthcare professionals finding that confidence and resilience levels increased resulting in higher organisation outcomes.
STEM to STEAM Conference 2
Developing an Authentic and Holistic Culture of Collaboration and Respect
7th June 2023
The impact of the Arts on Healthcare leadership
This 2023 conference is the second in the STEM to STEAM series. Building upon our 2022 conference, this event has been designed to review how NHS Organisational Culture can be enhanced by drawing upon the holistic qualities that the ‘Arts’ bring.
With the millions of pounds spent on gathering data over the last two decades, neither the findings or recommendations highlighted in the 2022 report by Sir General Gordon Messenger and Dame Linda Pollard, should be a surprise to anyone senior in the NHS or in Government that “institutional inadequacy” has developed over time.
The panellists of the 2023 STEM to STEAM conference will consider what is missing in the current NHS leadership provision and digs deep into why it has failed to build an organisational culture that is aligned with the Seven key principles which guide the NHS in all it does.
“How do we expect to be using these old models of leadership that are so outdated with such a multicultural, multigenerational workforce.”
Interim Head for Nursing Workforce at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust and Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, Visiting lecturer at The University of Wolverhampton
Lack of sustainable change in the NHS
In October 2021, the Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP, former Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, asked General Sir Gordon Messenger and Dame Linda Pollard, to examine the state of leadership and management in the health and social care sector.
However, prior to this 2022 examination, a series of reports had been produced and some, not all, are listed below. These reports show that there have been highly concerning results over many years surrounding the wellbeing of healthcare professionals in general.
We must act now to build on the emerging consensus around a new approach to health and work in Britain. We will not be able to secure the future health of our nation without it.
NHS organisations generally were not giving priority to staff health and well-being. Indeed, many NHS organisations displayed behaviours that were incompatible with delivering high-quality health and well-being services and support for staff. In particular, staff health and well-being services were often reactive rather than proactive, focused on responding to sickness and ill-health rather than actively promoting good health and well-being and a positive culture of workplace safety. There was a widely-held view that staff health and well-being was not seen as a priority either at organisational or local management level.
…there is a failure to tackle challenges to the building up of a positive culture, in nursing in particular but also within the medical profession.
…acting on rare and outlying behaviors and on exceptional cases of poor performance – though necessary, will not create an overall far safer and better NHS; it cannot. A culture of learning can. And the likelihood of such a culture’s thriving in the NHS depends, more than on anything else, on how you, the senior leaders, behave, speak, and invest.
Keeping doctors healthy will have important benefits for the NHS by improving staff engagement, reducing costs associated with absence and turnover, and improving patient outcomes. An employer focus on the health and wellbeing of staff will have a long lasting and positive impact in terms of patient care and value for public investment.
…the cost of bullying and harassment to be around £2.281 billion per annum to the NHS in England. These costs included sickness absence, employee turnover, sickness presentism, litigation and industrial relations costs.
21,800 nurses, midwives and nursing associates left the register between July 2019 – June 2020. Some of the reasons leavers gave included: retirement (51.9%); staffing levels (10.9%); too much pressure, stress and poor mental health (22%); and negative workplace culture, bullying, poor management and difficulty raising concerns (18.1%).
The main work factors cited by respondents as causing work-related stress, depression or anxiety were workload pressures, including tight deadlines and too much responsibility and a lack of managerial support.