Darent Valley Hospital - DGT - Quality Strategy

Delivering the Quality Strategy

Patient and staff engagement: Freedom to Speak Up (FTSU) The Trust has a number of Freedom to Speak Up Guardians who offer independent support and advice to staff that want to raise concerns. The guardians work with all staff to develop a more open and transparent culture. The Trust has a named Executive Director (Director of Nursing and Quality), and a Non-Executive Director for whistleblowing. • That all staff believe that DGT is an open and transparent place to work • That all staff feel empowered to 'speak up' as a matter of our core business • That the Trust Board and senior managers are committed to open communications when concerns are raised • That staff feel supported to make change Our vision • Every Trust must have a FTSU Guardian to give independent support and advice to stagg who want to raise concerns • The role was established following the report published by Sir Robert Francis, Freedom to Speak Up Review - 2015 • The National Guardian's Office supports Trusts and Guardians on all matters relating to raising concerns in health care Background • We have a lead Freedom to Speak Up Guardian and seven Freedom to Speak Up Ambassadors • We support staff who work at Darent Valley Hospital, Queen Mary's Hospital, Elm court and outreach sites • We currently see between 10-20 staff per quarter (April 2019) who have concerns about aspects of their work life • We welcome speaking up on a wide range of inssues including: patient safety, unfair treatment, inappropraite behaivours, communication difficulties and many others Our current position

• We will provide contact to staff who choose to access Guardian/Ambassadors within 3 working days • We will attend at least 5 staff induction events every year • We will provide 100% anoymised data returns to the National Guardian's Office every Quarter • We will conduct at least 5 'speaking up' toolbox talks in 2019/2020 • We will hold 6 Ambassador Forums between January/December 2019 • We will review the 'Raising Concerns Policy' as required and by August 2020 at latest • We will represent the Trust at reginal/national events at least twice a year in order to share and receive good practice • We will meet with the CEO, Chairman, Executive Direction for Whistleblowing and/ or the Non-Executive Director for Whistleblowing at least four times per year • The Guardian/Ambassadors will listen to staff tell their stories and offer practical support and advice. Ambassadors support the Guardian with profiling and referrals • The Trust will be helped with maintaining a strong culture of speaking up • The Guardian/Ambassadors will act as champions for raising concerns without fear of reprisal and will profile the benefits of speaking up • The Guardian/Ambassadors will promote effective teamwork within the Trust and between departments to support individuals raising concerns locally • The Guardian/Ambassadors will ensure that speaking up processes are continually improved • All staff will be appropriately supported when they speak up or support other staff who are speaking up What does this mean to staff? How will measure success?

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Trust Strategy Summary