The good, the bad and the funny

The old adage, it’ll end in ‘tiers’ has never been truer!

Claire (top) and 
Lisa Ryder (bottom)

Like a lot of you, I listened to the announcements about the national ‘tiered’ system of restrictions with a sinking heart. Although we know we are going to have to take further measures to stem the increasing number of covid cases, it feels as if it’s another period of time with life being put on hold.

There is a great deal of discussion about whether Greater Manchester will shortly tip into tier three and, after some of the toughest six months any of us have ever faced, the idea of going back to the restrictions of the Spring is really challenging.

It also feels different now to how we felt at the start of lockdown in March. Yes, it was very frightening then, but there was also a sense of togetherness about everybody wanting to do their bit to reduce the spread of the virus. We came together as a nation. There was camaraderie, creativity, clapping and community spirit.

But as the days get shorter, darker and the temperature drops, realising that our lives are going to be very restricted for many more months to come is now very tough. It definitely feels as if many people are finding this bit harder than the first full lockdown.

 

I listened to a bar owner in Liverpool being interviewed on the news after the tier three announcement, and she said it no longer felt as if “we were all in this together” as a nation.

 

There is clearly a sense of tiredness and frustration when you listen to people talking at the moment.  Many NHS staff are already feeling exhausted. Everyone has put such a lot into the last six months, it’s hard to think about another six months of the same.

I have been reflecting a lot on this big challenge of how we come together again and promote a shared sense of belonging and focus, when all the measures being put in place are about trying to reduce connectedness.

And also, how do we get through this next surge with enough energy?

I certainly don’t have all of the answers, but have been thinking about how we can help each other. I’ve talked a lot about looking after ourselves as individuals, from taking annual leave to doing creative and enjoyable things out of work. Being kind to ourselves.

But I want to talk about what we can do as a team in this blog. Because in a world where being together is so difficult, and with so much social isolation, it’s essential to stay united as teams.

I think one of the most important things is keeping that sense of shared purpose in the forefront of our minds.

We’ve rightly spent so much time focussing on what we need to do about covid. But, it’s important that we also protect our big ambitions. We mustn’t drop everything to run towards covid, as we had to the first time, when we put a lot of work on hold.

We need to keep progressing our digital agenda, quality improvements such as single gender accommodation, and service transformation around community mental health and learning disability services. We need to hold our nerve and keep these on track.

And fostering ‘belonging’ and shared identity is also an essential part of staying engaged and keeping spirits up. If you feel distant from things and as if your contribution doesn’t matter then it is harder to stay energised.

So, we need to check in with each other on a regular basis. We need to weave in time and opportunities to chat, reflect and learn from each other. Everything that is happening is so serious, but we also need to have some fun, and laugh together.

In times of widespread fear and uncertainty it’s perhaps more crucial than ever to recognise and hold on to the lighter side of life. Humour is a powerful tool, especially in a crisis, that can help us feel less worried, less alone, and more in control. It helps teams to make meaning of their own experiences collaboratively; bringing and bonding us more together.

I know a lot of the team humour and fun happens spontaneously when everyone is working or sitting together. But I’ve heard about some creative and fabulous things that different teams (in and out of our Trust) are doing virtually together; such as live yoga classes, quizzes, ‘virtual cake time’ on their Friday team meeting, or even virtual team drinks after work on a Friday. Some are just cheering up the rest of their team with hilarious zoom backgrounds, and other daily surprises, as well as sharing pictures, memes, and videos.

These small gestures can keep camaraderie alive online. 

I’m trying to find a way for our exec team to have some time out, so we can think about the next phase. We have spent such a lot of time together over the last six months, but as most of this is done through MS Teams it has mostly been focussed on work. With limited ability to just drop in on each other and have a natter, our sense of togetherness has been more professional but less personal and human.

So, I want to spend some time as a team thinking through how we find ways of informally connecting as a team. It’s not ideal having to do this by MS Teams or Zoom or socially distanced in a room with masks on, but I would encourage all our teams to do the same. It’s about creating the space to share how everyone is feeling and craft a way forwards together.

We also need to keep on celebrating achievements and successes. I think we did it through the first phase really well and, like a lot of you, I loved reading the ‘Together We Can’ daily communication. It’s really important going forwards that we keep finding ways of doing this at both a team and organisational level.

Our AGM last week was one way to celebrate your tremendous successes. The review of the year video, and some of the presentations, really highlighted the impressive achievements over 2019/20 year. It sometimes feels that covid has wiped out the past, with no other ‘show in town’, but the AGM allowed us to have that moment of reflection and see how much real progress has been made in so many areas.

Feeling tired after the last six months is entirely normal, but a collective sense of fatigue can occasionally have unintended consequences. When we are tired we are more likely to make mistakes. So, please remember that success also relies on speaking up when we or others don’t get it right. Its national speak up month and Lisa Ryder, our freedom to speak up guardian has written a personal and powerful guest blog which I urge you to read.

So, let’s keep together. Let’s keep talking. About the good, bad and the funny. We need to celebrate success, we need to keep the humour, and we need to find ways of maintaining our energy and resilience. The people we serve depend on it.

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Speaking up, listening up and following up - Lisa Ryder, freedom to speak up guardian:

As a young student nurse, I spoke up about a consultant’s treatment of a patient and the bullying behaviours of a sister towards a colleague. 

I was promptly summoned to a meeting with my tutor who told me “If you want a career in nursing Lisa, you need to know when to keep your mouth shut”. 

The experience didn’t stop me speaking up, but it did have a profound impact and I left nursing.  I remained in the NHS working in public health and safeguarding until taking up the post of freedom to speak up (FTSU) guardian in 2017. 

The FTSU guardian role followed the public enquiry into Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust.  Appalling treatment and high mortality rates were exposed at the hospital. The reasons given were understaffing, a poor skill mix ratio, a bullying culture, and senior managers in denial about the extent of the problems. Staff attempted to speak up but theirs and patient concerns were repeatedly ignored.  

One of the staff who tried to speak up about the treatment of patients was Helene Donnelly (pictured). Helene was a nurse and after one particular fraught shift where she had been sworn at by one of the sisters, she made a statement setting out her concerns. She was ostracised by her colleagues, bullied and harassed.  She left the trust but continued to speak up about what was happening.  Helene is now one of my FTSU guardian colleagues working across England.

The guardian role is an independent and objective post that has direct access to senior leadership, and therefore can ensure people like Helene have their voices heard at the top of the organisation and beyond.

Staff can speak up about anything at any time. Obviously patient safety is paramount, but the wellbeing of our colleagues is crucial and, as our own Civility Saves Lives campaign has shown us, incivility and bullying behaviours all impact on patient safety and the quality of care we provide.  

My experience as a student nurse was a long time ago, but up and down the country similar stories are being told today.  While we have come a long way in the past three years we still have some way to go before freedom to speak up is business as usual. 

The guardian role is one small element of the FTSU process, all of our FTSU successes so far are routed in our leadership and the Board’s commitment to embedding a culture of openness, honesty and transparency; where everyone is valued for speaking up, listened to and their concerns followed up.

We cannot afford to take the risk of thinking “that would never happen here”.  I am one of 30 national FTSU trainers and we all spend time discussing the importance of critical thinking, professional curiosity and contemplating the unthinkable.   

The future is bright; FTSU continues to extend its reach within and outside the NHS. Movements such as Black Lives Matter and #MeToo have forced us to acknowledge the systemic oppression and discrimination within our society, institutions and organisations and given us a chance to change so that we no longer tolerate discrimination in any form.

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Best wishes

Claire

You can follow me on Twitter @ClaireMolloy2