KEEPING STAFF & PATIENTS SAFE
number of new devices so quickly also won praise.
In seven of the eight red alert incidents, help arrived within three minutes. On one occasion though it took more than 20, and a subsequent investigation by Hunt found that was because of unclear instructions about the address, with the postcode not clear. Hunt therefore decided to issue staff with phonetic alphabet cards to ensure there is no miscommunication. All red alerts are discussed at the quarterly health, safety and security committee meeting, jointly chaired by the trust deputy CEO, who is executive director for quality and safety, and the Unison branch secretary. “This demonstrates the importance of the duty of care the trust takes for its employees and shows senior management involvement,” Hunt said.
Staff still have a responsibility for their own safety, of course, and are expected to keep colleagues and managers informed about their whereabouts, and take common-sense safety precautions like reversing into parking spaces in case they need to get away quickly.
Culture change
Reliance Protect provides nearly 50,000 devices across hundreds of NHS organisations as the accredited supplier of NHS Protect’s
framework Lone Worker Service, which it won again last year.
NHS Protect’s aim with the framework is to protect NHS staff and resources from activities that would otherwise undermine the effectiveness of the NHS and its ability to meet the needs of patients and professionals. Ultimately, this helps to ensure the proper use of valuable NHS resources and provide a safer, more secure environment in which to deliver and receive care.
As Reliance Protect is a framework supplier, trusts do not have to go through a lengthy procurement process of their own to get hold of the devices.
User usage sheets issued monthly allow Hunt and team managers to ensure staff are using the devices correctly. Hunt admitted a “culture change” was necessary to show staff the value of the devices, and that they were not about tracking or performance management or spying – just safety.
Each member of staff undergoes a two-hour face-to-face training programme, and five days to get used to the device before it goes live. This allows them to get used to leaving the ‘amber messages’ for potentially dangerous incidents
or calls, updating Reliance Protect on their whereabouts and situation.
‘Our most valuable asset’
Andrew Wellings, the trust’s head of facilities and maintenance, wrote in the nomination: “Dennis in my opinion is an unsung hero. He does not look for glory but is dogged in his approach to ensure staff use lone worker devices to reduce violence to staff in the trust and this is backed up by the yearly reduction of violence in our sites.”
The trust has also had longstanding recognition from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, having won nine consecutive ‘gold’- level awards. If it hits that standard again at next year’s awards, it will receive the special ‘President’s Award’.
At the 2014 awards, it was one of only two NHS trusts (along with Oxford Health) to get the ‘Gold Medal’ award for achieving five to nine consecutive gold awards.
“Staff are our most valuable asset and we need to look after them as well as we can,” Hunt told us.
FOR MORE INFORMATION W:
www.hpft.nhs.uk
national health executive Nov/Dec 14 | 75
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