Chief AHP's blog
Date of release: 27 September 2024
Support for our support workers
By Ros Leslie
For this blog I’m joined by my colleague Vicky Self as we recognise AHP support workers as an integral part of our teams, enabling more effective and efficient working.
Providing high-quality, personalised care to patients, they make up a quarter of RWT’s AHP workforce.
The 2013 Cavendish Review, commissioned following the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry, found a lack of standardised training and development for Healthcare Support Workers (HCAs) and they didn’t receive fair recognition.
The report made strong recommendations on how support workers are trained, around the quality of supervision and on scope of practice.
But a report from July 2024 – The Cavendish Review Ten Years On: Are NHS support workers still ‘invisible’?– found many of the same issues remain.
It found support workers continue to feel undervalued and underpaid for their work.
In the Black Country we offer our AHP support workers training and development opportunities such as the Care Certificate, the Higher Development Award and leadership roles.
System-wide job descriptions reflecting the AHP Support Worker Competency, Education and Career Development Frameworkhave been produced, ensuring access to learning and career progression.
Wendy Mason, RWT’s Lead AHP Support Worker, wants more people to join the AHP Support Worker Focus Group, which has representatives from all Black Country NHS organisations. Its aim is to shape future AHP development.
The feedback from these groups and from staff surveys helps make RWT the workplace we all want it to be.
Vicky is Associate Director of Organisational Development, Leadership & Culture and Be Well Midlands Programme Lead from the Black Country Integrated Care Board. She feels proud she can support our Black Country health and care workforce through improving experiences.
“To understand how we may best do this, using and understanding data is an important first step,” said Vicky.
“We have two great sets of information – our annual national NHS staff survey and our quarterly Pulse data. Evidence tells us when colleagues experience a compassionate culture, feel valued and included, it results in improved patient outcomes.”
At the end of quarter two, RWT colleagues shared an involvement score of 6.16 against a national average of 6.52.
Furthermore, our staff survey results from 2023 scored 7.27 (out of 10) for a compassionate culture.
When we examine this further, our AHP support workers experience this less, with a score of 7. So, what does this mean?
Different staff groups vary in terms of how they feel valued, but disparity across our AHP colleagues needs to be investigated further to understand what drives our support workforce to feel less valued.
Through elevating how we listen and act on colleagues’ feedback, we can improve experiences and provide great patient care.
Vicky and I encourage you to check your email inbox and complete the Staff Survey. It really is confidential.
And, by speaking out, we can collectively create change. We will listen, we will hear, and we will act.
