Health and social care staff experience: report 2018

Ministerial foreword for Staff Experience Report

Our focus in NHS Scotland is the provision of safe, effective and person-centred care. Improved staff experience supports improved care, so it is right that we are continually working to find better ways of improving staff experience.

The Scottish Government has therefore commissioned Webropol Ltd, an independent company to undertake the work to measure and report staff experience in Health and Social Care. Their report provides detailed information and analysis of staff experience gleaned from our iMatter Continuous Improvement Model in 2018.

iMatter was designed for staff by staff as a more effective way to measure and take action on staff experience. The questionnaire focuses on behaviours at the heart of organisational culture including those at the root of bullying, harassment and discrimination. Rather than adopting a top-down approach, teams collectively share responsibility for developing an action plan in response to their questionnaire results and review progress. This enables individual teams, direct line managers, Directors and Boards the facility to measure, understand and improve staff experience.

The Scottish Parliament Health and Sport Committee's inquiry into NHS Governance explored the culture of the NHS in Scotland and the way this impacts on patients. This included consideration of the Staff Governance Standard that looks at whether staff are managed in a fair and effective way. I am delighted that the Committee are supportive of iMatter and recognise the Health and Social Care Staff Experience Report as a useful tool for measuring progress in achieving the Staff Governance Standard and delivering improvements in the workplace.

All 22 Health Boards in NHSScotland have implemented iMatter and 24 Health and Social Care Partnerships (H & SCPs) have also chosen to participate. I expect all managers and leaders working within our NHSScotland Boards and H & SCPs to give full consideration to this report to inform the work to celebrate and improve staff experience.

It is worth reflecting on the fact that iMatter is both a collective endeavour and a continuous improvement journey. The 2019 roll-out of iMatter questionnaires will commence this February. I strongly encourage everyone to have their say by completing a questionnaire. More importantly however, I would encourage you to actively participate in the development of your team Action Plans for the forthcoming year.

Finally, let me personally thank everyone who has participated in iMatter. Your experience and your views matter and I am grateful to you for your involvement.

Jeane Freeman OBE, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport