Staff & Recruitment

• All managers of people at all levels have a key responsibility for the effective management and application of the health and safety arrangements in NHSGGC (and all staff have the responsibility to comply with those arrangements). In order to achieve this all managers of people are required to update their Safety Health and Wellbeing Task Calendar (sharepoint.com). This is a framework that is designed to support managers to actively deliver an annual plan, applicable to their service, and are based on a wide range of Safety Health and Wellbeing initiatives. 
• Senior managers rely upon all their managers and teams to implement, review and monitor health and safety performance, to maintain safe places of work and to monitor and support the wellbeing of their staff. As a manager of people you are expected to be aware of the Health & Safety policies of NHSGGC and know your role and responsibilities for the reporting and managing of health and safety incidents and risks on the Datix system. To understand those Safety Health and Wellbeing Roles and Responsibilities the Safety Health and Wellbeing Culture (sharepoint.com) provides access to documents for Directors, Chief Officers, Managers and Employees to read and work towards.
• In your area you must work with the Health & Safety Rep (who is also the Staff-side Rep) who are equally invested in keeping the workplace safe, and you must also consult with the NHSGGC Safety Health and Wellbeing Team and the Occupational Health Team for additional advice.
• You must ensure that Statutory and Mandatory training is up to date across your team and listen for feedback and safety improvement suggestions from staff, while  promoting and contribute to improving our Health & Safety Culture in NHSGGC.
• Access to the GGC-Safety Health and Wellbeing – Home (sharepoint.com)

• As a manager of people I have day to day operational communications and conversations with my staff to enable effective delivery of care and service. For those who look after a clinical area and are co-located with their staff, engagement with them is face to face and in real time, but I know this can vary by the type of service, location of staff, levels of autonomy etc. For some departments where staff are dispersed I know this engagement has started taking place using MS Teams.
• My key responsibility is to ensure that the level of communication and engagement meets the requirements of my team to enable them to undertake their roles as effectively as possible, that they work well together as required and to ensure they get the support they need in the longer term. Being visible and available for my staff to support them is a key responsibility as a people manager. This means my staff are well informed and I involve them in decisions. I discuss the monthly Team Briefs with my team to ensure they know what is going on across the organisation.
• I give feedback to my team members about what I think is going well or needs improvement and showing appreciation for the effort the team is putting in. This could be at team meetings, one-to-ones with staff members or as part of routine conversations.
• I work to the NHS Scotland Staff Governance Standard and I endeavour to model NHS Scotland/Local Authority values and listen to staff to understand the issues they are facing.
• I encourage my staff to speak up about anything they think is important and to help create an environment of listening, trust and care. My team know about the range of ways that they can raise issues and seek support, including Whistleblowing.

• I conduct an annual PDP conversation with each of my staff to discuss what is going well, what could be improved and to agree development objectives that would help them to deliver their responsibilities for care or service in the year ahead.
• The actions agreed are uploaded on the Turas system. I also conduct a mid-year review of what has been agreed and to discuss progress. My comments and those of my staff member are updated on the system.
• I ensure that adequate time is allocated for these meetings and that the conversations properly explore and agree actions and progress. Our discussions also include a career conversation where ambitions and potential of the staff member is explored and agreed. This can include considering succession planning in my service.
• I have more informal one to one meetings with each member of staff throughout the year which enable me to check how things are going for the staff member, their development progress and their wellbeing.

• All staff in NHSGGC work as part of a team, large or small, and require to get all the information necessary to carry out their roles. In my team we discuss and solve current issues and make decisions and agreements involving our work. We work on how well we are performing against expectations in delivering the service and how this could be improved.
  
  I update my team regularly about what is going on in the department and to discuss and get input to any changes that will affect the team or the care or service we provide. This means opportunities both for me to share information and to ask for and listen to their feedback and ideas.
• This involves getting staff together for team meetings where these things can be addressed. I take responsibility to make time for, organise and run such meetings.
• The meetings themselves may take different forms, they could be daily operational meetings of a few minutes long to communicate what’s happening that day. They can be longer meetings perhaps arranged monthly to discuss some of the higher level issues described above.
• Team meetings for some teams are easier to organise that others. With my team I have challenges in doing this, particularly because members of the team are on different shifts at any one time. I therefore have to be creative to get all the team involved and I hold a number of split team meetings at different times.

• I make my team development a priority to ensure that the care and service keeps improving and that the department is a positive place to work where people contribute their best. Regularly reviewing how well the team works together, team communications and behaviours is key to this. This can be done informally, perhaps as part of a team meeting but is also an outcome of the iMatter process.
• iMatter involves every team in NHSGGC undertaking their own team questionnaire once per annum. There are three sections of questions: one about you and how you experience your role, one about your experience of the colleagues you work with including your manager, and one about your experience your organisation. The process generates a team report which summarises the team scores for each question and an Employee Engagement Index (EEI) score for the team.
• I make sure to confirm my team member details on the system when requested to do so then brief and encourage the team to complete the questionnaire (either by email, SMS or on paper).
• Once the team report is generated, I then arrange a discussion with the team to agree the team strength(s) and up to three areas for improvement. I then upload what has been agreed onto the iMatter system which generates a summary (called a Storyboard). Because I encourage my team in this process and my staff commit to it, they find that it is a valuable and effective way to measure their experience at work, as well as improve engagement and teamworking.
• The iMatter question scores for the team are also summarised into the report for my overall Directorate / Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP), as well as the overall NHSGGC Board Report.
• The actions agreed in iMatter often involve improving communications, team meetings, ways of working, relationships and ideas to deliver better care or service. My team has also undertaken more involved team development as a result of our iMatter report and discussions. Examples of tools that can help are the Affina Team Journey tool and the Stress Survey for teams.

• As a people manager I am aware of the Human Resources related policies and guidance for our people processes in NHSGGC. I am required to apply these policies as and when necessary and be guided in areas such as Conduct, Capability, Attendance, Health, Safety & Wellbeing and Equality & Diversity. All policies and guidance can be found on HR Connect.
• Learning and development in many of these policy areas can also be undertaken on LearnPro and Turas Learn. For additional help the HR Support & Advice Unit can be contacted.

• As a manager of people I am knowledgeable of the NHSGGC Equality, Diversity and Human Rights Policy and apply the aims, principles and values to ensure that all my staff are treated fairly.
• I lead by example, promoting equality and inclusivity for all staff. I ensure that everyone has equal opportunities regardless of their protected characteristics. I foster positive relationships among all team members, regardless of their backgrounds.
• I actively address the needs of staff from protected characteristic groups. This includes identifying and implementing reasonable adjustments when necessary, following guidelines like the Reasonable Adjustment Guidance and Workplace Adjustment Passport. For example, I’ve worked with staff with disabilities to determine appropriate adjustments and support their roles effectively.
• I respect the religious beliefs of all staff. I encourage open discussions to ensure that everyone’s beliefs are respected and make efforts to accommodate leave requests for special days of different faiths.
• I encourage all staff to participate in our Staff Forums and Networks. These forums provide opportunities for staff to connect with peers from diverse backgrounds, share experiences, and build a more inclusive workplace. By fostering a supportive environment, I empower individuals to bring their authentic selves to work and contribute to a vibrant and inclusive organisation that values the unique perspectives of all our employees.
• I’m aware that in recruitment of staff to my team, if a disabled applicant meets the minimum criteria for the job and they indicate on their application form that they wish to participate in the guaranteed interview scheme, I must shortlist them for inclusion within the selection process.
• I must ensure that training and career opportunities across my team are free from discrimination and when I assign work I do this fairly and consistently, taking into consideration the circumstances of each individual team member. I take a zero tolerance approach to any intimidation, bullying or harassment, recognising that all staff are entitled to a working environment that promotes dignity and respect for all. For example, if ensure all my staff are confident in reporting harassment, including sexual harassment that they experience or are a victim of. More information about reporting Sexual Harassment can be found on our Cut It Out page.
• In order for NHSGGC to measure our effectiveness in equalities I know that data is drawn from the Electronic Employee Support System (eESS). I encourage everyone in my team to complete the equalities section of their own account on the system. This information is obviously provided voluntarily but is treated in strictest confidence and it enables overall data to be used for monitoring, reporting and taking board-wide actions to improve.

• As a manager of people the relationship I have with our local Staff-side Representatives is a key one. This close relationship helps us support an open, positive working environment and any issues affecting my staff that they may seek representation with can be discussed and addressed quickly. Early resolution is a key principle employed in workforce policies, for instance it enables many grievances to be resolved informally and quickly, avoiding an often lengthy and unsatisfactory formal process.
• NHSGGC has a partnership agreement developed jointly by the Board and the Trades Unions and Professional Organisations representing staff. The Agreement is designed to ensure staff are effectively involved in influencing the shape and implementation of decisions that affect their work, and offer managers the means through which staff views can be considered before taking the decisions for which they are responsible.
• Partnership is a way of agreeing together, wherever possible, changes in how we work and deliver care to the patients we serve. Managers of people should be aware and supportive of the local arrangements for the operation of effective partnership working in their directorate or HSCP. These arrangements will be determined jointly between local management and appropriate trade union/professional organisation representatives reflective of trade union membership within the division or substructure, and agreed by the Area Partnership Forum. They enable the consideration of issues affecting staff around service development, service delivery and the development and implementation of change.
• Whenever there are proposed changes to the way staff in my team work I always involve all my team members for discussion and input from the earliest stage.
• All change programmes which may have workforce redeployment implications must be supported by a management/staff-side partnership group and proposals will be subject to full engagement with the appropriate recognised Trade Union(s) / Professional Organisation(s) with a view to seeking agreement.

Contact the Employee Directors Office

• As a manager, I am aware that Mental Health & Wellbeing is just as important as physical health and many factors and life events can have an impact on how employee’s feel.
• Taking a structured but supportive approach that is sensitive to the health and wellbeing issues of staff creates a working environment that staff feel more connected to and supported in. This is helpful for reducing stress which is one of the more frequent reasons given for sickness absence. Getting support at an early stage can prevent absence from work and help recovery
• I encourage and support my staff to maximise their attendance at work and supportively manage any sickness absence with them. This is a critical area for my attention because of the major strain that high absence levels can put on care, services and staff. If managed well in each team then the benefit of higher attendance levels are significant for care and services but also for staff wellbeing.
• I have made myself aware of the NHS Scotland Workforce Attendance Policy the Managers Guide, and the Attendance – Manager Toolkit. These set out and explain my responsibilities for absence reporting, recording, supportive contact, Occupational Health referral, return to work discussion, phased return, managing patterns of absence, long term absence and other additional scenarios.
• Timely and accurate recording of staff hours and attendance on the SSTS system is a manager’s responsibility and as well as tracking attendance it ensures that my staff get paid accurately and on time.
• Additional useful resources can be found by visiting Staff Mental Health & Wellbeing Support Z Card, Health and Wellbeing Directory and Staff Support and Wellbeing

• I may from time to time need to recruit to vacant posts in my team. As a hiring manager I am supported by the NHSGGC Recruitment Team and I’m familiar with the Job Train system to drive the process. By working closely with the Recruitment Team I am assured that I’m operating within current employment legislation, best practice and most importantly I’m making safe recruitment decisions and appoint the best candidate for my post. Close attention is paid in Job Train and by the Recruitment Team to ensure our recruitment processes comply with the Equality Act 2010 and meet our needs to employ a diverse workforce that upholds our NHS values and behaviours. An example is discussing reasonable adjustments that could be made for an applicant.
• To ensure that across the organisation we continually develop strong internal talent for future vacancies I play my part to ensure that a career conversation is part of the PDP discussions I have with staff. This part of the discussion should explore what career ambitions and potential my staff member may have for a promoted post (also acknowledging that many of my staff are happy and focused in their current role). If there is potential for such a move I then agree the personal development plan necessary to get the staff member ‘vacancy ready’ for the post they aspire to.
• When a member of my team leaves for another post I carry out an exit interview with them to find out what we can learn and develop from the persons reasons for leaving.
• If we have a reputation for fairness and support in the career opportunities we give to our staff, we are then an organisation that talented people are attracted to and want to stay in.

• In NHSGGC we often refer to those in senior management and senior clinical roles as the leaders in our organisation, but leadership skills are encouraged in all our staff. I am expected to demonstrate leadership with the people I manage and I pay attention to my own leadership skills development. I have found that these skills enable me to be effective in all my other people management responsibilities listed here.
• The leadership qualities and behaviours that I demonstrate with direct reports encourages them to take responsibility, work together to deliver as a team and to stay positive and resilient under pressure. My team have told me that they feel supported, informed, engaged, trusted and respected and as a result they achieve more.
• Everyone is expected to personally model the NHS Scotland Values of Care & Compassion, Dignity & Respect, Openness, Honesty & Responsibility, Quality & Teamwork (or the equivalent of these in your Local Authority) and behave with civility to all colleagues. In doing this I try to model the leadership skills to others and for those who are keen to advance their careers in NHSGGC I often act as a mentor.

Take our “People Management Self Assessment Questionnaire” and then consider:

1. Sharing your responses with the people you manage. They might have suggestions about things you are doing well or could improve with them.
2. Sharing your responses with your own manager. You can then discuss any development or support that would help you in your people management.

To receive an email copy of your results, once you have selected submit, two options appear at the top of your screen – a pdf symbol and an envelope symbol. First select the pdf and then select the envelope, a box will appear and ask for your email address – remember to tick the send pdf box.

Mentoring is a method of learning that takes place within a mutually agreed and supportive partnership between two people, the mentor (or trusted adviser) and the mentee (learner). The focus of the mentoring partnership is the skills development of the mentee.

Mentors share their experience and guide the mentee in the skills they need to develop, either for their current role or towards what is needed for a future role or career path. It can be a valuable development option for anyone, but particularly for those who are ‘career upward’.

Mentoring is found to increase staff commitment, job satisfaction and retention. The benefits are three-fold, in that mentees develop their knowledge and skills, get support to manage their career goals, develop networks and build confidence; while mentors get the opportunity to practice their development skills and share their knowledge and expertise.

The organisation benefits from the knowledge and skills shared, from improving the career support and retention of valued members of staff and from improving the internal talent for key roles. 

1. NHSGGC encourages anyone who wants to develop their skills in a particular direction to reach out to a mentor (or perhaps even more than one mentor for different skills).
2. In NHSGGC it is self-driven, that is, it is up to you to determine (often with your Line Managers support and input in PDP discussions) what skills you may benefit from to grow in your current role, or to get you ‘vacancy ready’ for a future role that you aspire to and have the potential for.
3. Identifying someone who has the level of skills and experience that you are looking to develop in yourself is the start, and your line manager may advise you on this as well. They may even help you and set up the approach to them.
4. You can also develop a ‘mentoring type’ relationship with your line manager to more naturally draw on their skills and experience, but the norm for actual Mentoring is usually with a third party, outside your own immediate department in order to get more objective support. Sometimes they may even be outside NHSGGC. 
5. You then approach the individual and explain what you are seeking help with and ask them if they would be prepared to meet you and spend some time to guide your development. This may or may not be referred to as mentoring. Many people undertake these developmental relationships without them necessarily being referred to as mentoring and they may be very informal. Otherwise a more structured and formal arrangement may be set up between you. The formality, regularity and duration of meetings is by agreement between you, it is not prescribed.
6. It is predominantly the case that when people are approached with this request they are more than happy to help you. Not everyone however may be a skilled mentor and although they may be willing to assist, you may have to guide the discussions between you to get what you need.
7. It is vital however in these relationships that you explicitly agree the ‘rules’ that are important to you, such as confidentiality, or that these are established implicitly with trust. 

LearnPro and TURAS Learn offer further information on a variety of mentoring resources and provision including learning programmes, eLearning and guidance.

You can also seek support as a Mentor from your local OD Advisor.

You could be a digital champion – someone who takes a lead within their team to help others with digital solutions. It could simply be helping with setting up passwords, getting others confident with using Teams, ensuring everyone can access and input to your clinical systems that you use everyday. You may not need specific training for this – you may just have the knack! Please join our Digital Champion Forum for more bespoke training, events and chat.

If this is the case then you should consider furthering your own knowledge and learning. A great way to do this is through the Digital Health and Care Leadership Programme .This course maximises the potential of digital to benefit people and supports participants to develop the strategic leadership skills required to influence the use of digital solutions in health and care delivery. Your project will need to fit with NHSGGC digital strategy but you can discuss this with your digital leads prior to and during your course.

You don’t necessarily require to do a formal course. Successful project work derives from great quality improvement methodology. Please refer to the online resources available on the NHSGGC website. Your Digital leads will be more than happy to support and advise. You can also submit project requests that require support from ehealth via the Project Management Office (pmo@ggc.scot.nhs.uk).

Social media is a highly influential way of connecting with others both with colleagues and patients. Please refer to the Information Systems: Acceptable Use policy if planning to provide a patient facing site on one of the many social media platforms available.

Many services and teams rely on websites to share information about their service.

There are 3 types and you may require more than one of the types for your service:

Service information webpage for the public

For information about your service that the public will access, it will likely be in the Hospitals and Service section on the NHSGGC website.

It should have the following structure:

• Service overview
• Info for patients
  • About the condition
  • What we do
  • How to be referred to service
  • What to expect at your appointment/hospital stay/what happens afterwards
  • Frequently asked questions
  • Leaflets
• About the team
• Publications
  • Reports
  • Forms
  • Patient Leaflets
• Where to find us
• Contact us
• Useful resources/links

To build this type of site see information provided by the Web Team.

Generic staff information

For information that is for staff primarily but which is appropriate for public view if desired such as this website and HR Connect it will likely be in the Staff Resources section on NHSGGC website and the structure will vary depending on content.

To build this type of site see information provided by the Web Team. You will be asked to complete the LearnPro module GGC 289: WordPress CMS prior to beginning your webpage build.

Service and professional information for staff only

For information about your service that is for staff only such as rotas, contact lists, service operating procedures etc, it is best to use the functions of M365, especially Teams and SharePoint. How these work together is described in Teams and SharePoint integration.

Put simply, every team in Teams has a SharePoint site already but SharePoint sites can be created independently too. See information at M365 Training Sessions to get started using Sharepoint or watch these videos:

Most of us now input our notes in to an electronic patient record whether it be EMISweb, Trakcare or Clinical Portal. But its important to know that these systems have regular upgrades and in time and through service improvement can change to a completely different product. You should see the record as being something that evolves and that can be improved to suit the service needs and not seen as a static unchanging entity. Have a read of EHCR Adoption Considerations which describes the move from paper to EHCR but also outlines considerations for getting the most out of your current notes tool. Making the Most of your Electronic Patient Record is a great site for more in depth reading.

Good data collection is crucial to changing and influencing a service. Understanding the power of data is becoming a must have skill. Look at how you collect data within your service or team. Can it be improved? Do you know if your patient clinical system such as Clinical Portal, Trakcare or EMISweb assist processes around referral management, workload, caseload management etc. FutureLearn offers a free online course to develop your skills and understanding of the data in health care – Power of Data in Health and Social Care.

Using apps is becoming increasingly common but there are things that need considering before adopting:

• Don’t jump into a specific product – what are the functional needs?​
• Will you need to capture identifiable data?​
• IG will need to be involved – a data protection impact assessment (DPIA)​. See Information Security policy
• Is there something that already does the job in the organisation?​

While a specific app may have caught your eye from an advert or event, there may be others.

Some estimate that 45% of all software features are NEVER used​.

There is likely to be a cost after an initial free trial.

Is it for clinical work?​

• Clinical safety of the product will need considered – some apps are even classed as medical devices​. Use the DTAC
• Will it be part of the clinical record or need to integrate with it?​
• What products suit these needs?​
• Installed app or web-app?​
• Competitive tender may be required​

If considering a trial, also consider a ‘get-out’​ as you could make a change that cannot be sustained due to financial or service implications.

Speak to your digital leads early on.​

Look at what is already available in the Right Decision Service.

Scotland’s Digital Health and Care Strategy alongside the NHSGGC strategy Digital on Demand are 2 key documents that help shape the digital landscape with health and care. Visit the Digital Health and Care and the Digital Data and Capability sites on TURAS/Learn for lots more information and resources to support your digital journey.

Groupwork

• Groups have been running for some time in mental health and AHP services using Teams.
• Near Me has recently upgraded to allow groups to run from its platform.
• For more help with this put in a request through eHelp or Chat with Me on Teams

Website build

• Your service will greatly benefit from having its own site to promote your work and provide lots of useful information to your patients.

See Podiatry as a really good example.

• You require to get access to WordPress and you will be given help and instruction from the Web Team, you can find out more on their Website SharePoint site. See Leading Digital pages for more information.

• Physiotherapists and other AHPs such as Podiatry and Orthotics can use this tool for free. Log a call with eHelp to have it downloaded to your PC or laptop. Have a look at the training stream. A SWAY is also available on request from Gillian.Ferguson6@nhs.scot
• Can you make use of QR codes and email facility to make it easy for your patients to access?
• Can you make templates for commonly used exercises and activities?
• Add your own videos and photographs if required.  
• Just remember to limit the patient data the site asks for. Stick to initials only and always gain consent from the patient before making use of their email.

• This is a new system to NHSGGC. Information can be transferred electronically to your patients and including a digital appointment service.
• They will be able to receive notification of their appointment and interact by accepting, cancelling or requesting to rebook.
• It can be used to send leaflets, questionnaires and test results. The tonsillectomy service are now using a pre-op questionnaire which the patient completes and sends back with no need for a face-to-face appointment.
• If you think your service would benefit from using this in the future, put in a project request via the Project Management Office.

• Email is fast becoming a popular way for patients to connect with their healthcare professionals.
• Use your own or set up a generic mailbox for your service.
• Review the Information Security: Acceptable Use policy for information on emailing patients to ensure safe use. It’s a safe and secure method of delivery for information such as exercise programmes, advice following provision of equipment, quick confirmation of appointment time. 
• It shouldn’t be used for detailed clinical discussion and must have the minimum of identifiable data included in the body of text.

• Most of us now write in to an electronic patient record.
• All the systems have the function of using ‘structured’ data by linking to read codes or Snomed CT.
• Services can pull lots of information by using simple coding to, for example, code a referral type or condition.
• You can see how making use of this gives access to powerful data about your service.
• Talk to your service leads about using this functionality.

Asynchronous appointments

• Asynchronous appointments or those not done in ‘real time’ can be used to cut down face-to-face visits.
• Allows patients to answer a questionnaire or provide a short video or photograph in the comfort of their own home.
• You can then view this later before making a decision about further therapy.
• This image would need to be part of the clinical record and there are several products being tried and tested – SCIT app dermatology, vCreate neurology.

MIMS

• The MIMs (Medical Illustration Management System) upgrade is a project in progress to provide a stable system for NHSGGC which allows capture of all types of clinical image.

Referral Triage

• Active Clinical Referral Triage isn’t a specific digital tool. It is a model of working now used widely across services. It facilities virtual patient management and allows faster and improved flow of work getting the patient seen by the right clinician by the most appropriate method. Can this model be implemented within your service?

• mun.woo@ggc.scot.nhs.uk
• linda.stephen@ggc.scot.nhs.uk
• gary.manson@ggc.scot.nhs.uk

• bernard.scott2@ggc.scot.nhs.uk
• morag.gorrie@ggc.scot.nhs.uk
• catriona.forsyth@ggc.scot.nhs.uk

• Call: Independent Whistleblowing helpline 0800 008 6112
• Email: NHSGGC Whistleblowing Lead Kim Donald at ggc.whistleblowing@ggc.scot.nhs.uk

• Email: Andrew.Harvey@ggc.scot.nhs.uk

• Email Liz Sinclair at EJobPlan.Admin@ggc.scot.nhs.uk

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde continues to prioritise the health and wellbeing of our workforce. Our current and future staff are our greatest strength and this Strategy underpins the Board’s Workforce Strategy and reflects our aspirations to be a Better Workplace.

The focus of the Staff Health Strategy 2023-2025 has moved towards recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and support to staff to improve their wellbeing as new challenges arise. We have a strong foundation to build upon as evidenced by the many initiatives that have been introduced and embedded, including the Active Staff Programme, provision of Mental Health Support and the ongoing rollout of Peer Support. None of this is possible without the help and support of local teams across the organisation and Staff Partnership colleagues. Our staff equalities forums and the Staff Health Working Groups in Acute Services and our six Health and Social Care Partnerships also have a key role to play in delivering the actions which will flow from our strategic intent.

Engaging internal communications and high levels of employee engagement are crucial to continually developing our aim of being a better workplace. This underpins all our NHSGGC’s Workforce Strategy actions.

The Internal Communications and Employee Engagement Strategy sets out how we will do this, by supporting all our 40,000 employees to have a strong sense of purpose, connection, contribution and commitment to our organisation.

The Safety Health and Wellbeing Culture Framework roadmap outlines how we will improve the culture within NHSGGC, using an agreed set of Safety Health and Wellbeing (SHaW) standards.

The NHSGGC Chief Executive and Employee Director have reinforced their joint commitment to improving the safety, health and wellbeing culture within NHSGGC, through the development of the SHaW Framework.

All staff have a responsibility for safety, health and wellbeing within NHSGGC. A set of guidance documents outlined the roles and responsibilities for employees, managers and directors.

Each year NHSGGC is required by the Scottish Government to develop and publish a workforce plan which sets out the strategic direction for workforce development and the resulting changes to our workforce over the next year and beyond.

The NHSGGC Workforce Plan is developed using the NHS Scotland six steps methodology and the NHS Careers Framework. Both of these workforce models enable us to take a coherent view of the workforce across all job families and sub-groups. The Career Framework in particular is a useful tool for modelling and implementing workforce change and we are promoting and encouraging the use of this tool in NHSGGC.

Local workforce planning activity is managed within the Acute Services Division and within the Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs). In addition, there are workforce plans which focus on cross sector issues and plans based on service delivery models.

The workforce implications of service change and redesign are also set out in NHSGGC’s financial and service plans at Board and Divisional/HSCP level. These workforce implications highlight any planned recruitment activity and are further analysed in the project implementation documents (PIDs) which are prepared to support any significant service change and which set out the financial, workforce and equality impacts of any proposed changes.

All of the above workforce information is analysed and summarised by the workforce planners in order to develop the annual NHSGGC Workforce Plan.

The vision for the Recruitment and Attraction Plan 2022-2025 is to establish ourselves as a great employer and seen as an Employer of Choice. 

To help us achieve this vision, we have three ambitions: 

1. Attract, retain and value the most skilled, diverse and talented people from our local communities and around the world, proving we are a world-class public sector organisation.  

2. Empower our Human Resources and Organisational Development workforce to deliver a digitally-enabled world-class recruitment and onboarding service for our future talent that is inclusive and person-centred. 

3. Ensure use of high-quality data to drive forward workforce planning and recruitment initiatives as we strive to be a world-class public service. 

Our Recruitment and Attraction Plan sets out how we will achieve these ambitions, ensures recruitment and selection is inclusive and attracts candidates from diverse backgrounds, and develops NHSGGC under our corporate objective of ‘Better Workplace’. 

The Board Workforce Equality Group (WEG) aims to further develop NHSGGC as an inclusive organisation that engages with staff across all aspects of employment, in a way that reaches to the core of our organisational values and meets and exceeds our legal requirements as an equal opportunities employer. The WEG is responsible for the NHSGGC Workforce Equality Plan. The group includes representatives from the Staff Disability Forum, the Black and Minority Ethnic Staff Network, the LGBT+ Forum, staff-side, Human Resources and the Equality and Human Rights Team.

The key ambitions and outcomes for the Workforce Equality Action Plan 2020-2024 are:

• Our staff are treated fairly and consistently, with dignity and respect, in an environment where diversity is valued.
• Our data collection is legally compliant and is used to improve equality and diversity of our workforce.
• We can demonstrate that we are an exemplar employer by participating in recognised equality frameworks and charters.
• We have taken all the actions in our control to reduce equal pay gaps by sex, disability and ethnicity.
• Staff from equality groups are fully engaged in contributing to the Workforce Equality Group.

The Health and social care: national workforce strategy (published by the Scottish Government) sets out the Scottish Government’s vision for the health and social care workforce.

It supports their tripartite ambition of recovery, growth and transformation of their workforce and the actions they will take to achieve their vision and ambition.

The Health and social care delivery plan sets out the Scottish Government’s programme to further enhance health and social care services. Working so the people of Scotland can live longer, healthier lives at home or in a homely setting and they have a health and social care system that:

• is integrated;
• focuses on prevention, anticipation and supported self-management;
• will make day-case treatment the norm, where hospital treatment is required and cannot be provided in a community setting;
• focuses on care being provided to the highest standards of quality and safety, whatever the setting, with the person at the centre of all decisions; and
• ensures people get back into their home or community environment as soon as appropriate, with minimal risk of re-admission.