Florence
Nightingale
Foundation

Funder: Health Education England

Summary: This project involved undertaking focus groups with Learning Disability Nurses recruited from the FNF alumni community. The nurses worked across a variety of sectors and were supported to explore the impact of Covid 19 on their practice. The research highlights how Learning Disability Nurses turned to collaboration and creativity in a monumental effort to maintain services for people with a learning disability. The nurses were driven by a desire to maintain a sense of normality and stability for those in their care and pulled together to keep people with learning disabilities connected and safe during an intense period of social isolation.

Outcomes: An article reporting on the project has been published in “Learning Disability Practice” and can be accessed here. It is also available in an Easy Read format. The results were presented to the HEE/NHS E/I “All England Plan for Learning Disability Nursing” steering group and informed the operational strategy for this workforce agenda.

Funder: NHS England/Improvement

Summary: The National SDM Council convened in May 2020. They are the first of their kind internationally and have had a focus on ensuring point of care nurses and midwives have influence on the direction of policy and subsequent change. This is particularly significant as the council was established during wave 1 of the Covid 19 pandemic and have continued to function despite the significant clinical demands. This has enabled the CNO and National policy team to have continuous and rapid insight into the experience of point of care staff and translate this into policy where appropriate. The council comprises 17 point of care staff who work within one of the 14 Pathway to Excellence pilot cites. They are representing their own views and perspectives and not acting as a representative for their organisation. As the National SDM Council reached the end of its inaugural year there is an imperative to evaluate both the experience and impact of its members. The FNF Policy Unit has undertaken this evaluation with the following objectives:

• Explore the personal impact of membership on the individuals’ perception of their leadership capability and capacity.
• Discuss the perceived personal impact of membership on the individual's ability to influence national policy which leads to positive change.
• Identify how this experience has translated into opportunities and approaches to influencing within their own organisation.
• Reflect upon the factors which have enhanced or inhibited this impact on the individual and their local and national influence.
• Gather examples of the member's perceived successes
• Describe their recommendations for the future implementation of National SDM Councils taking into consideration challenges they have encountered which offer opportunities to amend the National SDM Council model in the future

Outcomes: A report on this project will be published in January 2022.

Funders: Unfunded

Collaborators: Unison, Nursing Times

Summary: This campaign intends to inform employers of what works most effectively during preceptorship and share evidence with policymakers and regulators to enable them to utilise their collective influence to:

1. Require time to be protected for preceptorship and supervision, for both preceptors and preceptees.
2. Set a standard for consistent access to preceptorship programmes.
3. Emphasise the need for preceptorship programmes to incorporate reflective practice and focus on professional support and development during the transition to qualified practice.

Outcomes: The campaign has commenced with a survey which is being managed by Nursing Times. The results will provide a current evidence base that all collaborators will commit to sharing with employers, regulators and policymakers.

Funders: NHS England/Improvement

Collaborators: Kings Fund, NHS Confederation, Prof. Lisette Schoonhoven (University Medical Centre Utrecht)

Summary: NHS England and Improvement (NHSE/I) has convened the Acute Deterioration Board and a “Worry and Concern” Task and Finish Group the latter a subgroup of the former. The issue of clinician, patient and family worry and concern was identified as a key priority for the Acute Deterioration Board, to understand and therefore improve the recognition and response to acute deterioration in patients in a range of settings, including learning disability, mental health, care homes and acute care settings. It aims to understand the barriers and enablers to escalate concerns that can affect outcomes for the patient.

The FNF is undertaking a Thought Leadership Project to explore the influence of leadership, culture, and hierarchy on raising concerns relating to patient deterioration. The project involves two phases:

1. Facilitation of focused discussions to explore the issues from a range of multidisciplinary perspectives from within our networks. The focused discussions will consider, in-depth, the most current experiences relating to this topic and explore the underpinning assumption that is sustaining unhelpful ways of working, specifically:
   • How leadership in their organisations has been influenced by the pandemic
   • Implications of this on the culture of the organisation from their lived experience
   • Stories of situations where they have experienced worry or concern about patient deterioration
   • Stories of situations where concerns have been raised and the actions which have followed
   • Factors influencing their willingness and ability to raise concerns
2. Facilitation of an engagement event which will consider the findings and utilise anonymous vignettes from the focused discussions to make recommendations to the Worry & Concern Task and Finish Group on strategies to directly impact on the key issues. The engagement event will involve the following:
   • National experts in leadership and organisational culture (including the Kings Fund)
   • Academics engaged in research relating to clinician worry (Prof Lisette Schoonhoven)
   • Leaders and organisational development practitioners from within the health and social care environments.
   • People who use healthcare services and their families/ informal carers. The NHS Confederation have agreed to provide this input.

Outcomes: The project will commence in February 2022.

Funder: Health Education England South East

Summary: Following the success of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Student Nurse Council, the FNF Policy Unit are leading on a project to establish six multi-professional Student Councils across the South East region of England. There will be one Council per Integrated Care System (ICS) and membership of the Councils include student nurses, midwives, allied health professionals and trainee nursing associates. 

The Student Councils will enable student representation to actively support, inform and influence local strategic discussions within their ICS/STP in relation to the education, learning and quality agendas and allow for the escalation of issues and concerns.  The proposal will provide opportunities for students to engage in the development of education and learning from a student perspective within their locality and enable them to have a voice within relevant projects and developments.

The project is intended to directly support "Our NHS People Promise" as outlined in the People Plan and links to a number of chapters within the plan including "Looking after our people", "Belonging in the NHS", "New ways of working and delivering care" and "Growing for the future".

The FNF Policy Unit will evaluate this project with the following objectives:

• Explore the set-up of the Councils and what worked (to support other regions to follow suit should they wish).
• Understand the perceived benefits and challenges of this work for the Student Council Members. 
• Understand the perceived benefits and challenges for the ICSs.
• Identify key themes that have arisen from an equalities, diversity and inclusion perspective.

Outcomes: An evaluation report on this project will be published in April 2023.

Read more on the Student Councils Programme here.