Health and social care staff experience survey 2022

My Team / My Direct Line Manager

Results are aggregated for each question presented under the heading ‘My Team / My Direct Line Manager’.

Five of the seven components have scores in excess of 80. The highest score across all components is for direct line managers being sufficiently approachable.

All components in My Team/My Direct Line Manager have increased since 2021. The score for ‘My line manager cares about my health and well-being’ has increased 2 points to 86. The rest have all increased by one point over 2019.

All but one of the components are at the highest levels ever achieved in iMatter. Involvement in decisions is in line with the 2018 and 2019 scores.

Board level data is shown in Appendix 17.

The importance of team support is illustrated very well by the Team Story from Scottish Ambulance Service Melrose Ambulance Station Team. To support staff wellbeing there was a desire for a quiet safe space. This was addressed through the team acquiring and refurbishing a shed. Requests to local companies have led to donations of materials and fittings for the shed. The work has been done by colleagues from across the team.

“There can be many reasons for staff needing to have some time and space to reflect, recoup and unwind, be it emotional pressure following a difficult job or physical demands. We hope by this project which is by staff for staff will be a small step in restoring morale at Melrose.”

iMatter Our quiet space

In this story it is notable that the journey of building the quiet space is a significant team-building activity and the finished result should benefit the wellbeing of them all.

Further supporting staff wellbeing through the addition of informal and confidential channels is illustrated well in Team Stories from NHS Fife and NHS Ayrshire and Arran.

“As part of this commitment to staff wellbeing, our team has a designated Peer Support lead, who is available to staff for support and advice. She explains,

The peer support service has been progressing well and I hope that staff are now more aware of what services are available. Information on peer support can be found on NHS Fife Stafflink, the online staff information system, as well as the Health and Wellbeing hub.”

iMatter NHS Fife Pharmacy and Medicines Directorate

As part of a multi-action programme, the NHS Ayrshire & Arran Nurse Directorate introduced a support system for staff:

“Buddy System Staff feedback highlighted that when employees are new to the organisation or directorate; ours is a complex system and it can be daunting to find information and make connections. A Buddy system has been put in place to ensure that all new starts are allocated a Buddy, and receive at least weekly ½ hour sessions for the first 4 weeks or however long they require, plus support and signposting, in addition to standard training, induction and supervision processes.”

iMatter Staying Connected

NHS Forth Valley have improved their score for ‘I feel my direct line manager cares about my health and well-being’ by 3 points to 86. They have also achieved a 2 point improvement in ‘My organisation cares about my health and well-being’ (see following section). The Board has taken positive steps to support staff wellbeing.

“A key objective for the organisation was the development of a three-year strategic Workforce Wellbeing Plan, building on the successful support initiatives put into place to support staff wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Plan includes the four pillars of wellbeing (Mental, Financial, Physical and Social) and the resources currently in place for each within NHS Forth Valley, as well as highlighting new initiatives. It depicts the ‘Wellbeing Journey So Far’ within NHS Forth Valley, discussing ‘where we've been, where we are and where we want to be’, before outlining initial actions based upon the 5 strands of the NHS Scotland Staff Governance Standard. The aim was to produce an accessible document that clearly shows staff the organisation’s commitment to their health and wellbeing, without being too prescriptive.”

Staff Groupings

Opinions of Team and Direct Line Managers are similar between NHSScotland and Local Authority Staff.

There is very little difference across the staff groupings within NHSScotland and Local Authority Staff. Details are shown in Appendix 18.

Impact of Change

The following chart illustrates how staff who have experienced change score lower than staff who have not experienced change for all Team/Line Manager components. The largest difference is for feeling involved in decision-making with those experiencing change scoring 74 and those not experiencing change scoring 78