Healthcare Culture Improvement Services
Improving patient safety and service quality through better workplace culture
A blame culture in a hospital isn’t merely unpleasant, it’s dangerous. When staff are afraid to report mistakes, patient safety is at risk.
In any organisation a toxic culture affects staff performance which can have reputational and financial implications. A negative culture in a healthcare setting makes it difficult to provide a high-quality service.
At Verita, we have extensive experience supporting healthcare organisations to bring about positive changes in workplace culture and improve safety and services.
Whether that requires us to investigate a serious incident, review hospital safety procedures, or report on how policies and procedures can be improved, issues with workplace culture are frequently found to be a factor.
REQUEST A CALL BACK
Working with Verita to improve culture
We work with NHS and private healthcare organisations to identify cultural issues, making recommendations on how to overcome them so that patient safety and service provision can be improved.
Identifying and resolving issues with workplace culture in a health or social care organisation is a strategic investment. Rather than simply listing areas which need attention, we take the time to understand the fundamental issues which are at work.
Health and Social Care Cultural Problems We Solve
Bullying and harassment
Almost 1 in 5 NHS staff have experienced bullying and harassment from their colleagues in the past year. This can result in increased staff sickness, employee turnover, reduced productivity and poor morale.
Blame Culture
This can prevent open communication and honest error reporting. If staff don't think they will be supported or treated fairly they are less likely to disclose details of an issue, reducing an organisation's ability to learn from an incident.
Burnout and compassion fatigue
A negative culture can affect the mental wellbeing of your staff and exacerbate these issues. The resulting stress, anxiety, depression and eventually burnout among employees, can increase the chances of an incident occurring.
Why improving healthcare culture is important
The first key question asked by the CQC when inspecting a health or social care service is “Are they safe?”.
Patient safety can be affected by many operational aspects of an organisation, but gaining insights into your culture is vital.
Identifying and resolving issues with workplace culture in a health or social care organisation is a strategic investment. Changing culture in a health or social care setting is challenging and leaders may be under pressure to deliver changes ‘overnight’.
We understand the challenges leaders experience when undergoing cultural change and work with them to create tailored plans which help to deliver real and lasting change, because the cost of not making the necessary cultural changes could be significant.
For example, a toxic culture can impact an organisation in a number of areas which have an impact on patient safety and finances, due to staff sickness, employee turnover, reduced productivity, litigation and more difficult industrial relations.
Rather than simply listing areas which need attention, we take the time to understand the fundamental issues which are at work.
Our culture assessment & improvement process
- Cultural Assessments: We analyse hard data such as absenteeism and employee turnover that might show where poor culture is affecting service quality or causing patient safety problems. We also engage with staff to understand their views of leadership, the systems and processes they work in, and any barriers they feel that prevent improvements to patient safety.
- Leadership Training: NHS organisations might have the right policies and procedures in place but lack the mindset and determination to bring about positive change. Our experience of working with healthcare leaders means we understand how to pinpoint the exact behavioural changes which need to be made to better manage team relationships and to encourage those around them to uphold standards.
- Team Workshops: We hold workshops which focus on effective communication, such as building mutual respect across different disciplines and creating an environment where staff feel safe to speak up. We also help teams align with values; what do those values mean in practice and how to hold each other accountable for upholding them.
- Measurement and Monitoring: Monitoring progress in areas which have been identified helps to managing them effectively. But we go one step further and work with leaders of health and social organisations to put additional plans in place to help deal with the challenges of changing a deeply embedded culture.
Find out more
For information on our tailored healthcare culture change services, please contact Verita founder Ed Marsden via email at [email protected] or on 020 7494 5670
