People Committee Assurance Report - September 2024
Meeting: Trust Board – Public Meeting
Date: 11 September 2024
Report Title: People Committee Assurance Report
Agenda Item: PUB24/9/4.2
Committee Date: 31 July 2024
Meeting Chair: Wendy Thomas, Non-Executive Director and Committee Chair
Meeting quorate: YES
Purpose: Assurance
Link to Strategic Objective:
- Be an exceptional place to work, volunteer and learn
- Provide outstanding quality of care and performance
Summary of Items Considered at the Meeting
| Issue | Consideration | Resolution/Outcome | Assurance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multi-Faith Network Update | The Committee received an update from Scott Owen, Network Chair. Scott was clear that the network is to support all people, those with faith and those with no faith. It is inclusive for all. He outlined the vision for the future. Improving understanding of differing faiths will be key. The group is keen to support the “Let’s Talk” campaign and link with the Trust’s pre- and postvention work. | George Lynn, NED, offered his support as he has led on this agenda in a previous role. | Moderate |
| All Women EEAST (AWE) Network Update | The Committee received an update from Beth Owen, joint Network Chair. Beth and Shavari Alape have been the Chairs for one year now and reported that the network has continued to grow in numbers. There have been numerous workshops held covering topics such as hormones, sleep and breast cancer. The previous Chairs concentrated on developing the Trust’s approach to menopause awareness and now the attention has been moved to pregnancy. Beth reported that 16 of the 18 hubs and all the EOCs now have welfare rooms to support women returning from maternity leave. These rooms are a quiet and private space for women who are still breastfeeding. The group are also looking to develop a resource support App but funding has been an issue. They have approached the Trust charity and external sources. | The Committee noted the great work of the Network and thanked Beth and Shavari for their leadership. The Committee Chair will approach Omid Shiraji, NED, to ascertain if he is aware of any funding streams that could be considered for this development work. | Moderate |
| Culture Update and Staff Survey Action Plans | The Committee received the update and noted that AACE are following EEAST’s lead recommending that an overall Inclusivity Plan be adopted to bring together the trends from the surveys and WRES and WDES monitoring of standards for the assessment of effectiveness. The Culture and Inclusivity team have compared the results and are identifying trends and actions to close the gaps. The key issue is openness and honesty from management and a belief that “Time to Lead”, once embedded, will have a significant impact. The management development training is progressing and continues to receive a 92% satisfaction rate. | The Committee noted that there is continued progress toward the development of a single Inclusivity Plan. | Moderate |
| Integrated Strategy, Culture and Education Report | The Committee received an update on appraisal rate compliance, which remains below an acceptable level. Clinical Operations Management is the main area of concern, and the Committee received an update from Darren Meads on actions to be taken to improve. The teams need to be explicit; highlighting direct line management responsibility on ESR and rates by service will be included in the line-by-line reviews. The trajectories by year-end will be formulated and leaders will be held to account via the accountability sessions. In the new financial year sanctions for individual managers will be negotiated (pay point progression dependent). The last report stated that there were still some issues with the Driver Training Unit and, whilst there are still issues with the number of staff awaiting C1 and CERAD training (loss of 4,000 PFSH per month), the satisfaction rate of those attending the courses is at 95%. We are still using external training providers but should be self-sufficient by November 2024. Reasonable adjustments – this was the first report to the Committee since the change to a central process. 23 requests were made in May 2024 and the progress of the requests will be monitored in future reports. Mandatory training – a dip in performance was a cause for concern, especially Information Governance training compliance; this may expose the organisation to risk. | The Committee noted that there is continued progress across a majority of the Strategy, Education and Culture focused metrics but some areas require attention, mostly from the Operations teams – accepted that Time to Lead is not fully embedded but personal accountability from leaders is now expected, especially for the appraisal rate compliance. | Moderate |
| Integrated People Services Report | Continued excellent progress with the people metrics. Turnover and vacancy rates continue to reduce and the time to hire rate is also reducing. The workforce plan will be broken down by sector in future in order to identify areas of good practice and areas of concern. It is also expected that the diversity of the workforce should match the diversity of the six different areas the Trust covers. The main area of focus is to address levels of “Duty Sick” – where staff report for their shift but then leave work sick. This is not currently recorded on ESR as an episode of sickness, so incidence is masked. This will be addressed in the future and rates will increase (expect by at least 12% as this happens at least twice a day across the Trust) but does need to be monitored and addressed (also an issue of professional accountability – if a professional knows they are unwell, it is their responsibility to report at the earliest possible time to enable cover for the shift). Task & Finish group established to address. | The Committee noted the continued excellent progress across all the people focused metrics and where there has been deterioration or concern; these have been highlighted in a timely way with plans in place to address. | Substantial |
| People Committee IPR | The assurance report was used to triangulate the main areas of performance improvement and outstanding areas of concern as described in the papers presented to the Committee. There was substantial assurance on the issues discussed at the meeting. There are a number of areas where targets are not yet set on the metrics and it was agreed that work would take place outside of the Committee meetings to agree the targets for further assurance. The Committee was advised that scenarios were being assessed to implement the IPR across all the Committees at pace. | The Committee agreed that the metrics gave great assurance but greater scale was required to reporting so triangulation could be gained between people, operational, clinical and financial influences and how this affected key performance indicators such as patient facing staff hours. | Substantial |
| Transformation Programme Board - Highlight Report | The Committee noted highlights from: Time to Lead – on target Culture Programme – on target People Strategy & People Services Development – on target Planning & Resourcing Programme – the invest to save business plan to purchase Anaplan, the required software, is being considered by ELT. There were no further issues to escalate but the Committee noted that the ability to implement digital transformation was currently a challenge (ESR is part of a national programme of development). | The Committee noted progress. | Moderate |
| Health & Safety Update | The Committee received an update on the Trust’s progress for full compliance under the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974. The Trust is fully complaint in 7 of the 8 areas. As previously reported to the Board, we are partially compliant in the development and monitoring of Trust- wide risk assessments. There is an agreed trajectory for the completion of the risk assessments and this is ahead of plan. The Fire Safety team has now joined the Health & Safety team and the fire risk assessments are due to be updated. The Committee were keen to see assaults on staff reported, prosecutions made, driving incidents and mandatory H&S training. | The Committee welcomed the report and agreed with the Deputy Director that H&S metrics could be included in the IPR reporting on a monthly basis for greater oversight. This discussion will be held outside of the meetings and will be reported to the next meeting. | Moderate |
| Communication s & Engagement Update | The Committee received an update on progress against the plan developed and approved in 2023. The improved website has been welcomed and the Trust is now able to monitor the number of visits, the comms gaining most attention. For instance, the managers’ communications are opened by 60% of the target audience. This enables comms to be monitored, action taken and targeted. The Yammer platform is soon to commence as a discussion forum within the Trust and will be used to maximise the 2030 strategy conversation. | The Committee welcomed the report and noted the progress against the plan. | Moderate |
| Board Assurance Framework | The Committee received the BAF and noted the mitigation. The risks remain high for SR1a and SR1b. The controls are effective and we have Internal Audit reports for assurance. | The Committee agreed to keep the current strategic risk rating at 12 for SR1a and 16 for SR1b. The overall risk has reduced from Q1 to Q2. | Moderate |
There were no matters for escalation or onward referral.
