Chief Executive Fortnightly Blog to NHS Orkney Staff - 4 March 2024

Message for All NHS Orkney Staff 

Dear Team Orkney

Happy Monday!

I start my update with a number of positives to recognise and celebrate – so we start the week with some good news.

1. Team Orkney Awards - Well done to our 30 colleagues and teams who have been shortlisted for this year’s awards. To be nominated is a great achievement; though to be shortlisted is exceptional. We look forward to saying ‘thank you’ to you all at a special awards ceremony on 22 March
2. We have exceeded 30% of staff having appraisals (based on February’s data) – I am determined that all staff will have a good quality annual appraisal conversation and we are moving in the right direction. My ask is that every line manager continues to give appraisals due focus.
3. Statutory/Mandatory training – our rates have increased to 81.84% (January 2024), from 67.3% in May 2023 – another great sign of improvement. Well done all.
4. Corporate Strategy engagement – more than 300 patients, community, partners and staff had their say on what matters most. We are now reviewing all of the feedback we have received and we continue to have some 1-2-1 conversations with key partners and stakeholders. We aim to bring our draft Corporate Strategy to our April Board for approval.
5. A very warm welcome to Jay O’Brien, who joins Team Orkney today as our new Director of People and Culture. Jay comes with strong Board and Executive-level experience and an exceptional reputation in his field having recently been Chief Experience Officer at Alfred Health in Australia, making him well-placed to lead our People and Culture function in the next chapter of our improvement journey. Jay will support NHS Orkney to better understand patient and staff experience, and use this feedback to drive improvement and innovation.

Some further updates of importance:

1. Your feedback on our Stress Management Survey

Around 1 in 4 of you responded to our survey, which is the first such survey we have done.

Your feedback throughout the year – including from this survey – will help us to improve your experience of working here and better manage work-related stress.

The results show that we need to focus on two key areas to better support you at work. These areas are: (1) managing change and better involving you when changes are being proposed/under discussion and (2) managing demands on you at work.

We are giving thought to some of the further changes we need to make in response to your helpful feedback, in addition to the top five priorities for the year we have already agreed that we regularly report back on, and will share more information in due course.

2. Fairness of HR processes, including recruitment

As you all know, creating the right culture at NHS Orkney is hugely important to me – and this includes a culture where colleagues feel safe to speak up when they have concerns, and one where there is fairness, honesty and transparency. I am pleased that colleagues have felt able to speak to me to share their concerns in recent weeks. By doing so, it has highlighted a case where we have not followed due process for recruitment and in response I have apologised to the individuals and team concerned and committed to making the improvements that are necessary.

Our learning:

1. A clear Recruitment and Retention Policy is being finalised which will include a process that must be followed for all recruitment, including internal Expressions of Interest – so we have greater consistency
2. I will today discuss with our Senior Leadership Team members and in turn all recruiting managers what process should be followed to communicate internal opportunities and what communications must look like when it comes to announcing recruitment decisions/appointments

3. Recognising long service and retirements

Finally – recognising long service, dedication and loyalty is hugely important to me and I know many others. As such, I was pleased to attend Maureen Firth’s retirement event last week to wish Maureen well for her next chapter and to thank Maureen for her exceptional leadership and for all she has done for the NHS and NHS Orkney over the last 30 plus years. I am pleased to end this week’s blog by letting you know that in response to your feedback, from April we are introducing Long Service Awards, and soon after this, we will introduce a more formal way of recognising retirements. More information to follow in the weeks to come on how this will work.

Have a great week and thanks for everything.

Take care.

Laura Skaife-Knight

Chief Executive