Health and social care - everyone matters pulse survey: national report 2020

Collaborative Working

The survey included the iMatter component "I get the help and support I need from other teams and services within the organisation to do my job". In the Everyone Matters Pulse Survey a score of 73 was achieved, 2 points higher than in 2019 iMatter. This illustrates the strength of cross-team collaboration over recent months. 

Colleagues and teams at work have been very important in supporting staff well-being through the COVID-19 pandemic. 36% of staff answering the open question about support, mention their colleagues and 19% mention their team or the teams they work with. Many comments from staff emphasise how the sense of teamwork has extended across new teams brought together through redeployment, cross-team working and/or new tasks and responsibilities. 7% of staff answering the open question about worries mention teamwork difficulties or lack of support across teams. 

Individual Boards

Across the Geographic Boards NHS Shetland and NHS Grampian score highest for cross-team help and support. The table following shows scores for individual Boards and differences from the iMatter 2019. Three Boards have seen a 3-point improvement in this measure from last year (NHS Grampian, NHS Fife and NHS Highland).

Geographic Boards	I get the help and support I need from other teams and services within the organisation to do my job	Difference Pulse Survey 2020 to  iMatter 2019
NHS Ayrshire & Arran	74	+2
NHS Borders	72	+2
NHS Dumfries & Galloway	72	+1
NHS Fife	74	+3
NHS Forth Valley	72	+2
NHS Grampian	75	+3
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	72	+1
NHS Highland	72	+3
NHS Lanarkshire	74	0
NHS Lothian	73	+1
NHS Orkney	72	0
NHS Shetland	76	+1
NHS Tayside	72	+2
NHS Western Isles	71	-1

The words from NHS North Lanarkshire HSCP also illustrate the humility of staff and their commitment to supporting each other through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Circle of Care – "Just Doing our Job"

"There are many, many, stories of small acts of kindness and compassion that symbolised the commitment NHS staff had for providing support to each other, regardless of their profession, job role and indeed even their deployed role.

They went above and beyond consistently during Covid …working more hours, taking colleague’s washing home, buying refreshments, changing shifts

What we are very aware of is the significant number of staff who have worked more hours than they were meant to, reached out more than they were required to, and provided resources beyond their remit to ensure staff had their basic needs met and psychological first aid whenever this was required. It was a circle of care - everyone care for each other on the ground."

NHS Lanarkshire North HSCP

Staff view collaborative working as one of the good things that has come through the COVID-19 pandemic. There are stories of how teams have worked together effectively through the COVID-19 pandemic, as illustrated by this example from NHS Dumfries & Galloway:

Story: SWEETS!

"The group was made up of staff from right across the Partnership: ODL, Medics, Spiritual Care, Psychology, AHP’s, Catering, Staff Side, HR, Local Authority, Occupational Health, Clinical Education, Public Health and more! The team had a weekly lunch time meeting on Teams, the ‘highlight of the week’!"

"It was such an eclectic group, gave such a different perspective. Lent itself to some creative ideas, brainstorming sessions, the group come up with great ideas outside of the box, which if we had been one staff group we probably wouldn’t have come up with"

"With the breadth of experience and knowledge in the group, you just felt you could ask anything and the collective would have come up with an answer; we were valued for our individuality in that group. We had the same end vision, but with different ideas of how to get there but we were all listened to"

NHS Dumfries & Galloway

The example below from NHS Forth Valley shows the benefit of cross-team working both for team members and the community they support, in this case care homes. The team was able to provide a single phone number giving care home staff rapid access to the support they needed. The CHART team also proactively called each care home daily. Feedback from the care homes was overwhelmingly positive.

Story: Care Home Assessment & Response Team (CHART)

"In April a decision was taken to co-ordinate the support for care homes in Forth Valley through a dedicated multi-professional and multi-agency team called CHART (Care Home Assessment and Response Team). This CHART team was formed of different professionals that included GPs, social care workers, palliative care specialist nurses and Advanced Nurse / Paramedic Practitioners.

Coming together from so many different disciplines, as a new team was a challenge. However, the depth and breadth of the health and care experience within this new team was immediately evident. There was a clear common purpose which immediately focused minds."

NHS Forth Valley

Among the National Boards, NHS Education for Scotland has the highest score for "I get the help and support I need from other teams and services within the organisation to do my job". Scottish Ambulance Service and NHS Education for Scotland have seen the biggest increase in this score, both 5 points higher than in iMatter 2019.

National Boards	I get the help and support I need from other teams and services within the organisation to do my job	Difference Pulse Survey 2020 to  iMatter 2019
Healthcare Improvement Scotland	77	+4
NHS 24	74	+1
NHS Education for Scotland	81	+5
NHS Golden Jubilee	71	-2
NHS National Services Scotland	75	+3
Public Health Scotland	73	N/A
Scottish Ambulance Service	65	+5
The State Hospital	71	-1

The following story from Scottish Ambulance Service illustrates how staff have come together to support the health and well-being of those they work with.

The SAS Bloggers

"Dan volunteered to start a wellbeing blog with the aim of engaging others in the Service to start a conversation about wellbeing. His blog was written from the heart, sharing his personal experiences with both humility and humour that resonated with us and our everyday work in the Scottish Ambulance Service. We were inspired to contribute ourselves and one by one we joined and formed a small and enthusiastic team called ‘The SAS Bloggers’."

"I’m so thankful for this blog. It has reminded me to check in with myself, my partner and other parents."

"Really helpful insight into how we are feeling and the need to be kind to ourselves and to each other"

Scottish Ambulance Service

Healthcare Improvement Scotland performs well in teamwork with a score of 77 for "help and support from other teams and services", 4 points higher than iMatter 2019. With many staff from this Board working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic there is considerable risk of teamwork suffering. However, the organisation focused on maintaining communications in the virtual world through adapting the established 'huddle' approach. Early teething issues with technology were overcome and huddles took place with 200+ staff joining each one.

Come together: how we kept on huddling in the virtual world

"I feel like our huddles have been redefined during lockdown. They now give us a chance to unite as one orginisation. If only for 45 minutes. We dont' get the facial cues, the spontaneity or the visual feedback, but we do have the ability to ask questions and make comments in what feels like a safe space."

Healthcare Improvement Scotland

This also illustrates the wider importance of technical support, through virtual meetings and online communications, that has helped staff working from home to remain connected with their colleagues.