30 September - Mental health network - governance during the COVID-19 pandemic

Overheard during the webinar:

"We’ve heard that staff are exhausted, which includes tired executive teams, which can make it difficult to implement innovation and lead change."

"There is some frustration amongst staff that the rest of the world is returning to normal, the impact this is having on services and the fact that they can’t. Some trusts have a mental health support offer, run by the trusts staff, and available for the whole system which is well accessed by staff in both mental and acute trusts. Energetic leaders and weekly communications with staff are helping to keep morale up."

"We have developed an offer of a fair and just culture, and support and develop within this framework around a focus on learning, lack of blame culture etc. We've invested heavily in metrics and data so we can understand where the needs are evidenced, and how to design services to make the most impact for communities, and directly match the evidence needs of the population."

"We are supporting staff to use their creativity to try things in a different way, to improve their own satisfaction and improve the experience for patients. Engaging all staff in redesigning services is energising and we can effectively use the ideas and skills of staff. We are going to hold two development sessions in the coming months to discuss the future of the trust and the direction, which again can feel energising.

"How do we retain the focus on health inequalities, and also to lead partnership working at a time when all organisations are at different stages of exhaustion?"

"The NHS is leading a variety of green initiatives towards the NHS meeting net zero in 2050. A key step forward on this has been the need for all trusts to develop a green plan to be submitted to ICSs, with systems summarising this and creating a system plan. Where are chairs currently on this journey and is this being approached as an enabler rather than a specific task?"

"We feel that whilst climate change is broadly accepted, it hasn’t been legitimised as something which needs to be prioritised especially within the NHS, so the requirement of a plan will hopefully address this."

"We have approved our plan at the board, and a key part of our working will be integrating local plans within the region. The impact on population health is measurable as a consequence, alongside the significant economic opportunities. How the trust spends its money will be viewed through a different lens by our board, and we will need to have a focus on managing and shaping ways of working and behaviours. We are also building this into our risk register and board accountability framework to ensure accountability."

These meetings are by invitation only. For further details, visit our events page.

If you have any comments, questions or suggestions about these webinars, please contact: events@good-governance.org.uk