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GO Online: Inspection toolkit

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Workforce wellbeing and enablement

The Â鶹ŮÀÉ inspection focus on wellbeing extends to your own staff teams as much as the people you support. Whilst the Â鶹ŮÀÉ will look at this as part of Well-led focus, supporting staff wellbeing is also central to being a Caring service.

The following film provides a summary of this area of inspection. It can help you and your teams learn about what will be inspected and what is important to demonstrate to deliver good or outstanding care.

Introducing Workforce wellbeing and enablement

Duration 01 min 27 sec

The Â鶹ŮÀÉ will look at how you support the wellbeing of your team as part of the inspection focus.

It is important that if the service is going to meet Â鶹ŮÀÉ expectations, then there will be a need to show how you protect their own wellbeing. This is a relatively new area of Â鶹ŮÀÉ inspection focus and one which the regulator deems as important to empowering your team to deliver good quality care themselves.

The Â鶹ŮÀÉ will primarily look at the support you have in place to protect staff wellbeing and enable them to deliver person-centred care. The Â鶹ŮÀÉ will look at various ways that this might be achieved, including how you promote non-discriminatory practice across the service and protect human rights.

Be prepared to share examples of how your supervision and support, staff development and wellbeing initiatives meet the needs of your own colleagues. Expect Â鶹ŮÀÉ inspectors to speak with the staff team to understand how successful these approaches are.

Your wellbeing initiatives should extend beyond the paid workforce too, so consider how you support unpaid carers and volunteers.

There might also be some crossover with how you support and empower your workforce with whistleblowing and raising concerns.

To learn more about how you can meet this area of Â鶹ŮÀÉ inspection, take a look at GO Online.

Watch the film here:

Practical examples

The examples below provide insight into how other Good or Outstanding rated services are succeeding in this area of inspection. Use the filter to choose different types of examples or select based on related prompt.

If you have an example you would like to share, please e-mail employer.engagement@skillsforcare.org.uk.

Filter by resource type


31 example(s) found

How to know and support your staff

In this from the Care Exchange podcast, Aeon Anderson talks about team meetings, supervision and other methods to get to know his staff and provide the support they need.

You can listen to the full podcast . Access our whole Care Exchange series here.

Read more about this service .

Care provider: African Caribbean Community Initiative

  • Audio

Date published: May 2023


Cost of living support

The provider invested in the service to ensure the provision of the highest quality care and support and retention of staff.

Staff had recently received two cost of living bonuses alongside a pay increase. The provider pay staff their sleep-in allowance when they are on holiday, so they don't lose any money whilst on leave. Counselling sessions had been provided for staff who had experienced periods of difficulty.

Read more about this service .

Care provider: Orbis Support Offices

  • Case study

Date published: March 2023


Setting time aside to support the team

In this from the Care Exchange podcast, Jo-Anne Wilson MBE talks about different initiatives to support staff wellbeing, ensuring they feel supported and do not take their concerns home.

You can listen to the full podcast . Access our whole Care Exchange series here.

Read more about this service .

Care provider: Royal British Legion Nursing Â鶹ŮÀÉ

  • Audio

Date published: March 2023


Growing your team

Providing development opportunities is a great way to grow your team and help take the pressure off frontline managers.  Risedale Estates provides a range of career pathways, offering opportunities for the team to stay and develop with them.  This blog explains the different opportunities they offer, covering from initial induction through to specialist nursing roles.

Care provider: Risedale Estates

  • Case study

Date published: March 2023


Supporting staff to grow into new roles

Care provider David Lewis offer learning and development opportunities to encourage staff to stay with them long-term. Providing career progression opportunities supports both retention and wellbeing as staff are able to achieve their goals.  This blog highlights some of the practical steps that David Lewis offered to develop a colleagues into more senior roles.

Care provider: David Lewis

  • Case study

Date published: March 2023


Building career pathways for staff to learn and grow

Castleford House Nursing Â鶹ŮÀÉ have introduced both new roles and career pathways which allow staff to develop their skills and progress within their organisation.  This process not only means that staff are continually learning new skills and innovative ways of working, but it also helps to support with staff retention.

One of the new roles is Head of Lifestyles; which is part of the activities department overseeing the team of activity co-ordinators. This new role allowed their existing activity coordinator role but also learn new skills and responsibilities, such as leadership and people management.  Read the full blog here.

Care provider: Castleford House Nursing Â鶹ŮÀÉ

  • Case study

Date published: February 2023


Using staff engagement groups

There was a staff engagement group for all grades of staff who met regularly to discuss ideas for driving positive change. The aim of the group was to make Eglantine a more positive experience for everyone. The group attended engagement events and focused days regularly to discuss ideas. For example, the group had suggested setting up a menopause support group for staff.

Read more about this service .

Care provider: Eglantine Villa

  • Case study

Date published: February 2023


Multiple opportunities and innovative ways to develop yourself further

The provider had a proactive support and appraisal system for staff, which recognised that continuing development of skills, competence and knowledge was integral to ensuring high-quality care and support. Records showed, and staff told the Â鶹ŮÀÉ there were several opportunities and pathways for staff to develop.

The provider had made a commitment to invest in staff individuals and grow their own staff. For example, two members of staff had qualified as nurse associates and an additional two had started the programme. These staff spoke passionately about the support they were getting and were grateful the provider saw the potential in them.

The provider had also planned care home assistant practitioner (CHAPS) training pathway for care staff. Staff felt extremely well supported to develop their skills and knowledge to meet people's individual needs.

Read more about this service .

Care provider: The Royal Star & Garter Â鶹ŮÀÉ - High Wycombe

  • Case study

Date published: January 2023


Free counselling sessions and a menopause group

Staff well-being was championed. Staff had access to wellbeing resources designed for front line workers which included free counselling sessions, dealing with prolonged stress at work and caring for yourself. A menopause group had also been started to support some of the staff team. 

Read more about this service .

Care provider: Burwood Nursing Â鶹ŮÀÉ

  • Case study

Date published: September 2022


What does wellbeing at work really mean?

In this Blog, we speak to Dr Chloe Schneider, Clinical Lead at the Keeping Well NWL Staff Support Service, about what wellbeing at work really encompasses.

Care provider: Keeping Well

  • Case study

Date published: July 2022


How data can help you think about your staff’s health and happiness

In this Blog, we look at what data you can use to measure the health and happiness of your workforce. It explains how data on turnover rates, sickness levels, and staff satisfaction surveys can all help you to think about wellbeing needs.

Care provider: Â鶹ŮÀÉ

  • Case study

Date published: June 2022


Wellbeing challenges and advice for domiciliary care workers

In this Blog, we look at what you can do look after the wellbeing of the domicilary care workforce.  We spoke to Nicola Wilson, Care Manager of Crossroads Care on what she feels helps in regards to remote working and other issues.

Care provider: Crossroads Care

  • Case study

Date published: June 2022


Social care managers share their advice on creating a happy and healthy workplace

In this Blog, we spoke to a range of social care managers to find out more about the strategies and initiatives they have in place to create a positive work environment for their teams.

Care provider: Various

  • Case study

Date published: June 2022


Wellbeing pledge

Friends of the Elderly has introduced a new online workplace mental health platform as part of its ‘Wellbeing pledge’ to staff.  Click here to learn more about what this charity which runs care homes, day care services and a grant giving service for older people living on low incomes has done.

Care provider: Friends of the Elderly

  • Case study

Date published: May 2022


Focus on making staff feel safe and what supervision and support is available

In this from the Care Exchange podcast, Ruth French talks about how her service introduced a valuable resource to support staff wellbeing, backed up by 1-2-1 and ongoing support for on-going dialogue.

You can listen to the full podcast . Access our whole Care Exchange series here.

Read more about this service .

Care provider: Stow Healthcare

  • Audio

Date published: March 2022


Supervisions improve care delivery

There are many advantages to effective supervision, but a potentially lesser-known benefit is how it supports how happy employees feel at work. Lucy Knight, Registered Manager of Valerie Manor shares her insights.

Read the full blog here.

Read more about this service .

Care provider: Valerie Manor

  • Case study

Date published: December 2021


1-2-1 counselling and other wellbeing support for the staff team

At Valerie Manor, we believe caring not only involves caring for our residents but each other, the whole team. For several years we’ve provided 1-1 or group counselling/reflection for staff if they need it for their physical or mental wellbeing.

As a company we also pay for all staff to have access to a BUPA helpline for free confidential advice around financial, physical or emotional problems. During the pandemic we’ve seen more staff and their families struggle financially, so we’ve also promoted and helped staff apply for grants from the Care Workers Charity which has been life-changing for so many. We believe that by caring for each other as a team, the residents will in turn be cared for well.

Read more about this service .

Care provider: Valerie Manor

  • Case study

Date published: November 2021


Supporting wellbeing during the pandemic

Throughout the last few years, MHA has maintained a strong strategic focus on wellbeing which was elevated with the development of our Engaging Leadership programme in 2019.

Due to this strategic focus, MHA’s executive leaders and board were integral to the development and support of the plans to offer a broader range of wellbeing support for our colleagues during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As with all good social care providers, our people are incredibly important to us, so we knew it was essential to protect them and look after their mental and physical wellbeing through this unprecedented time.

Between March and December 2020, our wellbeing initiatives included manager wellbeing webinars in spring 2020, developed to support managers to have an opportunity to explore and share the early challenges they were facing through COVID-19, as well as an online wellbeing toolkit, executive leader wellbeing calls and regular Zoom meetings with our executive.

Read more about this service .

Care provider: Methodist Â鶹ŮÀÉs (MHA)

  • Case study

Date published: January 2021


How we train and support staff wellbeing

In this from the Care Exchange podcast, Sue Anne Nnamani explains how they provide training to support mental health and wellbeing.

You can listen to the full podcast here and access our latest episodes of The Care Exchange here.

Read more about the service .

Care provider: Priscilla Wakefield House

  • Audio

Date published: December 2020


Ensuring wellbeing support is available

With the unprecedented challenges that COVID-19 has brought across the country, and especially the health and social care sector, it’s never been more important to support employee health and wellbeing, which is why we’ve introduced some new initiatives to our already robust health and wellbeing support programme.

These include the ‘we care’ package of additional support for colleagues, featuring initiatives such as free meals for all colleagues on shift, a free food ordering service through our catering supplier with a 10% subsidised discount, and financial support for colleagues whose children get free school meals.

We’ve also started our Above and Beyond award to recognise colleagues going the extra mile and introduced free online mindfulness training to help to reduce stress, increase focus and improve happiness. These sit alongside existing packages such as our mental health first aiders, and our coaching team.

Care provider: Exemplar Health Care

  • Case study

Date published: April 2020


Outstanding internal communications

The service has a head of internal communications and employee engagement who’s responsible for staff engagement. They report directly to the chief executive officer and were independent to the operations team.

Care workers were kept up to date with any important changes or news in the organisation through a number of regular updates. These included a weekly operations update which came directly from the COO, a monthly internal newsletter with a 'softer' focus including stories and successes from people and a monthly 'core brief'.

To increase engagement, the provider had developed social forums groups on the care worker community intranet group. There were a number of groups dedicated to sharing tips, concerns, resources and general support. Groups included cooking tips and recipes, end of life care, dementia, travel group, and a getting together group. These provided a valuable sounding board for care staff who often worked alone.

The provider was aware of the importance of promoting workforce wellbeing and the positive impact this would have on the quality and continuity of care. They’d started a number of initiatives to help ensure their carers who often worked in isolation were well supported and were given emotional support.

Read more about this service .

Care provider: The Good Care Group

  • Case study

Date published: April 2019


Rewarding a caring culture

To promote a caring culture, the registered manager had introduced care awards for people supported and staff. The awards were to recognise achievement and promote positivity.

The awards included 'most improved', 'shining star', 'outstanding contribution', 'most person-centred' and 'best team’. The registered manager organised an annual social event, which included a meal and entertainment.

The event was sponsored by local businesses and the town's mayor presented the awards. One person supported by the service very proudly showed us their award, which meant a lot to them.

Read more about this service .

Care provider: Community Support Service (D.D.H. Services Ltd)

  • Case study

Date published: March 2019


Outstanding range of staff support

Staff communicated effectively within the team and shared information through regular daily handovers. Staff received appraisals, supervision and completed staff performance evaluation forms with their line manager.

They had opportunities to discuss any issues during their one-to-one supervision, appraisals and at the workshops to determine how best to meet people's needs effectively. Staff completed their performance evaluation before a supervision or appraisal; these documents spoke in person-centered language and focussed on what was best for people's quality of life and how they could improve further.

One question aske:, "what new things have you learnt about people recently?" All evaluation said how staff felt able to speak openly and frankly about themselves and their role.

There was a health and wellbeing staff representative who attended external council workshops and shared ideas at staff workshops. For example, staff all worked one 12-hour shift and then smaller shifts as the provider felt home/life balance was important. Staff breaks were delegated and monitored to ensure staff took them.

New team members were welcomed in the staff newsletter, staff efforts were recognised and praised, and any ideas welcomed. For example, following the achievement of the Level 1 Butterfly Dementia Care Award, staff had a party as a thank you from the provider.

Read more about this service .

Care provider: Wisteria House Dementia Care Ltd

  • Case study

Date published: January 2019


Giving staff space to talk about the impact of the job

As part of providing emotional support for staff, Schwartz Centre Rounds had recently been introduced. These were forums for staff from all backgrounds and levels of the organisation to come together once a month and explore the impact that their job had on their feelings and emotions. The aim was to offer staff a safe environment in which to share their stories and offer support to one another.

Care provider: Anonymous

  • Case study

Date published: April 2018


Rewarding staff for their dedication

The organisation introduced an annual ‘duvet day’ awarded to any colleague who achieved 100% attendance. Other retention-related initiatives include ‘wow vouchers’ to thank staff for providing a service above and beyond what’s expected. Staff are encouraged to put forward new ideas with additional prizes available.

Read more about this service .

Care provider: PossAbilities CIC

  • Case study

Date published: April 2018


Maintaining constant managerial support

The serviced ensured that either the registered manager or a deputy manager were on duty seven days a week. This ensured there was managerial support available every day.

Relatives of people using the service felt particularly reassured as there was always someone on duty who could give them a full update on their relative’s care.

Care provider: Anonymous

  • Case study

Date published: April 2018


Developing resilience through professional support

In a service where some of the residents had challenging behaviour, effective training helped staff retention but some staff were still leaving. The manager arranged for a psychologist to attend, giving staff the opportunity to talk about incidents and the impact this behaviour had on them, which helped to build resilience rather than leaving the service.

Care provider: Anonymous

  • Case study

Date published: April 2018


Prioritising supervision during inductions

Inductions were revised to increase the number of times care assistants were required to meet with the care manager. This included additional reviews at four and eight weeks.

In addition to ongoing supervision and support, the reviews provided more formal opportunities to review performance and address any areas of concerns. People who used the service benefited from an increase in the level of monitoring and support for new staff.

Care provider: Anonymous

  • Case study

Date published: April 2018


Sharing and reflecting on caring practice

The service has focused on ensuring that examples of caring are regularly recorded and shared with staff.

From managers observing good caring practice and documenting it to regular discussions with care workers in supervisions, the service ensures that they reflect on this, evidence it and raise wider awareness. This means that all are then prepared with practical examples to share with the Â鶹ŮÀÉ inspectors and others.

Care provider: Anonymous

  • Case study

Date published: April 2018


Staying connected through technology

Our managers and carers may not be able to regularly meet for handovers, but we use free software such as WhatsApp to keep everyone updated.

Read more about the service .

Care provider: Amber Support Services

  • Case study

Date published: April 2018


Meeting daily with staff across the service

The service held a daily head of department meeting, which was inclusive, e.g., involving the kitchen and maintenance staff etc. The Â鶹ŮÀÉ inspector saw that everyone in the meeting knew the individuals using the service well, and together discussed the most effective ways to involve them in activities.

Care provider: Anonymous

  • Case study

Date published: April 2018



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