Leadership Dispatch – 12 April

Welcome to our April edition of the Leadership Dispatch. 

It is always an interesting time of year, as we move from the old financial year into a new one.  A time of reflection, looking back at the offers we have made and the priorities we have come to understand through the ongoing conversations as we develop new offers for the coming year.  It is a time of year for looking forward and creativity, a time for hope, optimism, and potential, as we finalise the annual programme and envisage the intent behind the offers. 

I am very mindful of the NHS context, which continues to be challenging, and which has recently been brought into focus through the national highlights from the staff surveys results. These results reflect the challenges of last year and demonstrate an increase in stress, of staff attending work when unwell and a worrying reduction in overall staff morale and engagement.  We have an absolute need to continue to focus on improving the health and wellbeing of staff, with a particular focus on reducing the bullying and harassment of staff.

With this in mind, we have designed offers that focus on both the health and wellbeing of staff, and offers that recognise the importance of the role of line managers including the ability to lead during challenging times, sustaining a good team culture and exploring workplace conflict through mediation.  

Recognising the important role of patients as our partners in the design of services, and following a highly successful first programme, we are pleased to offer a second programme of Reaching out and the Effective patient leadership programme.  Both programmes provide a safe space to meet like-minded individuals who are seeking to improve patient care and share ideas and benefit from peer mentoring, as well as hear from inspiring leaders in this arena and what they have achieved in transforming care.

Following on from International Transgender Day of Visibility which was held on March 31, we are pleased to offer our leadership espresso from Mindout exploring Trans Inclusion.

The session will allow participants to gain insight and skills in assessing and addressing the needs of LGBTQ staff with mental health issues and gain confidence in dealing with heterosexism, homophobia, biphobia and transphobia.

Our coaching and mentoring support to line managers and staff is a significant part of our ongoing offers and we have extended our Bitesize Coaching offer providing colleagues with the opportunity to process experiences, develop coping skills and explore strategies to navigate challenging circumstances. We have also launched our Effective Mentoring Training: developing potential with others to support participants to become ‘formal mentors’ within the South East.

Regarding GMTS in the South East, we are currently in the final stages of the Stage 1 Assurance process and have received a record number of 70 applications from organisations willing to host trainees for the upcoming September 2022 cohort. The assessment centres are now complete, having assessed around 850 candidates over the last few months, and we are aiming to start the allocation process from next week with the aim of notifying successful hosts in early May.

We thank you for everything you have done over these past months and look forward to continuing to work with you, do feel free get in touch with our team by contacting us via [email protected]

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Contact

For Regional Offers: [email protected]

For National and Partner Offers – Please follow the link in the offer you are interested in and contact organisers directly.