NHS GRAMPIAN
Minute of the Grampian Area Partnership Forum (GAPF)
held on Tuesday 11 May 2010 at 2.00pm
in the Conference Room, Summerfield House
Present:
Richard Carey, Chief Executive (Chairperson)
Gordon Stephen, Staff Side Chair/Employee Director
Mike Adams, UCATT
Brigid Aitken, RCN (Video Conferenced)
John Brett, Head of Health and Safety
Jim Clark, GMB
Joe Collier, Unit Nurse Manager
Jon Cresswell, BMA
Sharon Duncan, Unite
Frances Dunne, Service Manager, Aberdeen City CHP (deputy for Heather Hardisty)
Andrew Fowlie, General Manager, Moray
Alan Gall, Director of Finance
Laura Gray, Communications Director
Bettina Low, UNISON
Deirdre MacIntyre, SOCAP
Mike Ogg, Assistant General Manager (deputy for Sandy Dustan)
Anne Ross, Head of Performance and Quality
Clare Ruxton, Head of Human Resources (HR)
Kirsten Sawers, RCM
Mark Sinclair, Director of HR and Strategic Change
Lynn Shand, CSP
Vincent Shields, Interim Director of Acute Services
Philip Shipman, HR Manager (deputy for Andrew Fowlie)
Joan Anderson, Partnership Support Officer
In Attendance
Gerry Lawrie, Workforce Development and Redesign Manager – for item 1a
Fergus McKiddie, Staff Side Chairperson of Acute Sector Partnership Forum – for item 9g
Helen Robbins, Head of Clinical Governance and Risk Management – for item 11
Item / Subject / Action /1 / Apologies
Apologies were received Eric Murray (and deputy Gary Mortimer), Heather Hardisty (Frances Dunne deputised), Sandra-Dee Masson, BAOT (and deputy Liz Laing), Mike Scott, Staff Governance Committee (and deputy David Anderson), Pauline Strachan, Chief Operating Officer (no deputy), Sandy Dustan (Mike Ogg deputised), Ann-Louise McKay (now on maternity leave – no deputy)
It was the funeral of George Downie, Director of Pharmacy, so some members of the Forum left for this and returned afterwards. Forum members took a minute to think about George and his long involvement with Staff in NHS Grampian.
1a / Workforce Plan 2010 and Workforce Projections
Gerry Lawrie, Workforce Development and Redesign Manager attended the meeting to discuss the swift development of a Workforce Plan; the draft had been circulated prior to the meeting. The plan had been to develop a three year plan in line with the Health Plan but the Scottish Government had asked for a Workforce Plan at quite short notice. As a result it is quite different from previous Workforce Plans and it was not possible to reflect on the redesign projects which were ongoing. The Plan was to be submitted to the Scottish Government by the end of May.
This was the first year that there had been a reduced workforce. There is to be a further 2% reduction in turnover, reduction in staffing numbers which will lead to reduced stability in a climate of increased unemployment in the area which was up to 3%.
It was noted that some projects would cost money, for example, Junior Doctors and advanced practitioners, and it was confirmed that this type of project should continue. Some projects will cost money and these are all to be discussed individually as they arise as there will be a need to invest in certain areas.
Richard Carey stated that we need to make it clear to the Scottish Government that we need to prioritise workload, for example, the amount of work it takes to respond to Scottish Government requirements, and there is wording within the Health Plan which may be useful.
To take the proposed amount of funding out of NHS Grampian cannot be done without changes being agreed. It is important to establish what the Scottish Government want to resource.
Gerry was thanked for an excellent piece of work. Once complete the Workforce Plan would be forwarded to the Scottish Government and this would assist with getting our Local Delivery Plan signed off by them.
NHS Grampian are in a catch 22 situation as it would be difficult to deliver the current service with less staff, but the Scottish Government would respond to say don’t reduce staff if we cannot run a service without them, but NHS Grampian cannot break even financially by keeping the same number of staff. It is to be made very clear to the Scottish Government that the financial position is very difficult in an area which has demographic changes above the national average.
Comments on the draft Work Plan to be sent to Gerry within two weeks of the meeting. / RC
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2 / Minute of Meeting held on 22 April 2010
The minute of meeting held on 22 April 2010 was approved.
3 / Matters Arising
a. Pensions Roadshows Feedback
Clare Ruxton reported that 17 Pension sessions had taken place and 700 staff had attended. The sessions were run by the Pensions Advisory Service (who were independent financial advisors) and Human Resources Service Centre (HRSC) Staff. The sessions included the choices exercise and retirement planning information. Staff appeared to receive these sessions well.
The sessions were all full and the question was asked about running more sessions. The Pension Advisory Service would not run any more but HRSC Staff may be able to run some more as they are now trained.
Discussion took place on asking a question in Team Brief about how many staff would still want to attend a pension session to gather numbers and also about recording a session to put on the intranet as an e-learning tool along with a question and answer sheet.
There was an issue about staff working after age 65 and the choice within the new pension to work to 75. It was agreed that before putting out any information to staff it was to be discussed at the Budget Steering Group on 18 May as there may be a decision not to change from the current policy.
b. Face to Face Session Feedback
Laura Gray reported that the face to face session programme was now complete and attendance varied across NHS Grampian. There had been a series of requests to go to individual wards and departments for a face to face session with staff and these requests have been welcomed. It was suggested that it might be better to move away from set dates and venues and move towards encouraging more invites to departments and wards and ask the staff what subjects they would like to discuss.
The Evaluation Forms were very helpful and staff were given the opportunity to put their contact details on them if they wished to receive feedback on their comments. Managers were thanked for their input into responding to questions from staff.
The face to face sessions will be repeated in the Autumn and plenty time will be made available for staff to ask questions.
A discussion then took place on the importance of face to face Team Brief sessions. Local meetings mean issues and subjects can be focussed more to local issues.
The PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) Report on internal communications, which is still to be presented at Communications Sub-Group and then GAPF, noted a high risk recommendation around Team brief. Some areas do Team Brief very well and local newsletters also assist with communications in some areas.
It was suggested that Sector Partnership Forums could assist with the promotion of face to face Team Brief sessions. It was also suggested that this was a performance issue and that each manager should be asked as part of their 1-1 meetings with their manager if they are doing face to face Team Brief and if this is done all the way from top to bottom it will ensure that all staff are being covered.
All Partnership Representatives are to promote face to face Team Brief.
c. Protection of Vulnerable Adults (report attached)
Gordon Stephen asked Forum members to read over the paper which was circulated prior to the meeting and if they had any further questions on the Protection of Vulnerable Adults process for Natasha Hogan they were to send these comments to Joan Anderson prior to the next meeting so that Natasha would have time to prepare a response for the next meeting.
d. Voluntary Early Release Scheme/Voluntary Severance (VERS/VS)
Mark Sinclair, Richard Carey and Alan Gall had met with the Scottish Government to discuss some issues, which included VERS/VS. They were told that they would not get an extension to the Variation Order and therefore could not run VERS again, but could run VS under the conditions of Section 16 of the Agenda for Change Terms and Conditions Handbook. There was no funding being made available for this meantime but the Scottish Government asked for numbers of interested staff to be reported to them and then there may be some funding made available. The Scottish Government said that NHS Grampian were to look at capital funding for this but this would not release a lot of funding. If a building was sold off, it would only be the difference between the value and what was actually paid for the building that would be available for use.
The feeling was that the Scottish Government may well come up with some funding if the numbers of interested staff are great enough to make significant savings as otherwise they will have closed a door on a saving opportunity for NHS Grampian.
It was agreed to launch the VS Scheme on Wednesday 12 May 2010. The scheme would be open to all staff with the proviso that if they work in an area that is difficult to recruit into, or that there are similar vacant posts in other areas of the organisation, or if they are a specialist, it is unlikely that they application would be approved.
The timeline for the process would be that all staff should be given their calculations by the end of June/beginning of July. A group would meet at the end of August to agree who was successful and this would be recommended to the Remuneration Committee in September. All staff who have successful applications would leave the organisation by the end of September 2010 with no exceptions.
The compromise agreement, which will be signed by successful applicants on 24 September, allows for short notice being given to the member of staff to leave.
The payback to this process would begin in March 2012 and would be recurring savings.
Communications will be through Global emails, Up Front, Management and HR communications, intranet information, and there will be training for managers offered.
Managers will now be asked to think carefully about how they can redesign to allow staff to leave.
Section 16 of the Agenda for Change Terms and Conditions is a UK Terms and Condition and will not be up for Scottish negotiation.
Management Steering Group (MSG) and Human Resources Directors (HRD) information is that there are discussions ongoing on a variety of national terms and conditions.
e. Mobile Phones
Following the launch of the Mobile Communication Devices Policy (Mobile Phone Policy) a number of issues had arisen. Wi Fi was being rolled out across the ARI site and this may have an impact on certain pieces of medical equipment. A small group would meet to review the policy in the light of comments received and changes taking place and they would report back to a future GAPF meeting with recommendations on how to resolve these issues. / CR/LG
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SD
4 / Any Other Competent Business Determination
a. Mileage Rates
b. Volcanic Ash
c. Mental Health Services Staffing Levels
See Item 10 below.
5 / Improving the Public’s Health and Reducing Inequalities
NHS Grampian Health Plan Update
Gordon Stephen reported that the Health Plan was now available (Final Report circulated separately). It was available on the intranet and also the internet for the public to access. Staff are requested to read the plan and make comments on it, as are the public.
Laura Gray explained that there was an event planned for the autumn to work on the inter-relationship between the Health Plan and the Grampian Health and Care Strategy. There will be partnership involvement in this event.
The Health and Care Strategy is not new, but bringing a number of strands of work together. Staff Side and public involvement is critical in this.
The Health Plan is a high level strategic document and the Health and Care Strategy is more about all we are doing. / ALL
6 / Delivering Safe, Effective & Timely Care in the Right Place
Continuous Service Improvement (CSI) – Mark Sinclair
Mark Sinclair explained that he didn’t have a paper to present to the forum but would ensure this is done for future meetings.
Lots of work is ongoing regarding shifting the balance of care, tying in the quality strategy and aligning CSI to this and will include patient safety, etc.
A review of CSI was about to take place to ensure it was aligned and if it isn’t the reasons why it isn’t and whether we still need to do CSI with those particular projects.
In the beginning of the main project ATOS identified blockages in some services and CSI work has concentrated on these, but now it is clearer on how to take this forward.
Maternity Services – there would be a discussion at the Senior Management Team (SMT) on what should be done and then CSI will be involved in assisting to take the review forward.
A survey using survey monkey had been proposed to find out what staff know about CSI and then based on the outcomes, work will be done on communications.
It was proposed to hold events at the Suttie Centre each month for all staff to explain service improvements, etc.