Staff experience in the NHS: Creating the conditions for change

Thoughts and reflections from NHS Employers staff experience team.

In this session, we will hear from trusts who were able to make significant improvements in their staff experience scores in the 2023 NHS Staff Survey. Our speakers will share how they were able to turn the dial, move from aspiration to action and drive progress. They will offer valuable lessons learned throughout their improvement journey and highlight effective interventions.

• Claire Teeney, Chief People Officer of Culture, OD and inclusion, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust 

Our pan-sector panel of non NHS workforce leaders will deep dive into their experience of developing great workforce culture - the challenges, successes and routes to improve.

In this keynote fireside chat, Em and Caroline will discuss how we can work together to make the NHS People Promise a lived reality for all our people, so they succeed and stay. 

They will share learning from the NHS People Promise Exemplar Programme on key actions to help retain staff, and look ahead at key priorities, opportunities and challenges as staff experience practitioners work to implement the retention related asks of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan.

• Em Wilkinson-Brice, Director of Staff Experience and Leadership Development, NHS England
• Caroline Waterfield, Director of Development and Employment, NHS Employers

In this panel discussion, diversity leaders from across the NHS will share their insights on driving compassionate culture change and ensuring that inclusion is at the beating heart of the approach.

• Bernadette Thompson OBE Executive Director of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
• Candace Bedu-Mensah Head of Diversity and Inclusion, Lancashire and South Cumbria Foundation Trust 
• Paul Deemer, Head of Diversity and Inclusion, NHS Employers

We are investing more on wellbeing than ever, yet there is still so much to be done. Not that you need us to tell you that. However, perhaps we have everything we need already. . . we will touch on why current solutions might not be working and offer a simple, actionable formula to thriving in a world obsessed with quick fixes.

• Ryan Hopkins, Global keynote speaker and best-selling author, Chief Impact Officer, JAAQ, TEDxSpeaker and previously Future of Wellbeing Leader at Deloitte 

Choose one of four attendee-led interactive workshops sessions. In your chosen session you'll have the opportunity to engage and network with your fellow staff experience practitioners. Using the collective expertise in the room, we ask that you share the staff experience work you are undertaking in your organisations; discussing what you've learned, what has worked well, and what hasn't. 

OD supports organisations and systems to make a positive impact on organisational cultures. In this interactive workshop we will explore OD techniques and methodologies that can be used to effectively deliver culture change.

• Carly Telford, Assistant Director (DoOD), NHS Employers

A compassionate, supportive culture is central to good workforce wellbeing. In this interactive session, we will explore how you can nurture and maintain cultures where wellbeing is everyone’s business.

Learning from staff engagement approaches, we will share the latest evidence on what drives staff engagement and explore how it can contribute to improvements in productivity and quality. 

• Steven Weeks, Staff Engagement Policy Manager, NHS Employers
• Rob Fordham, Head of staff experience, East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust

In this session we take a look at the impact a culture that supports speaking and listening up has on staff experience, culture and patient care; with a focus on making it a strategic priority for overall improvement. 

• Dr Jayne Chidgey-Clark, National Guardian for the NHS

Our panel of senior leaders will share reflections based on their extensive experience in fostering good staff experience. 

• Matthew Winn, CEO, Cambridge Community Trust and Norfolk Community Services NHS Trust
• Cheryl Samuels, People and Culture Director, Evelina Hospital (Guys and St. Thomas Trust)
• Shajeda Ahmed, Chief People Officer at Black Country Integrated Care Board

Reflections of the day from the NHS Employers staff experience team.