Posted 15 June 2018 - 10:36
Posted 15 June 2018 - 10:36
News
Confed 18 looks to the future of the NHS workforce
Confed 18 fringe imagines working life in the NHS in 2026
Confed 18 fringe imagines working life in the NHS in 2026
Picture: iStock
Senior NHS managers took a role-play trip to 2026 to imagine how their organisations might look eight years from now.
Some imagined how technology might help staff achieve work-life balance, while others focused on workforce diversity.
Role play
The exercise was part of a fringe session at Confed 18, the annual NHS Confederation conference in Manchester.
NHS Confederation chair Stephen Dorrell, a former Conservative health secretary, told the audience: ‘The year is 2026 and we are on the cusp of the NHS’s 80th anniversary.
‘It is a situation which requires you to suspend your disbelief, but will show what we are aiming to achieve by this point.’
‘In 2026 this panel, of five white men and one white woman, will not look like this'
Caroline Corrigan, NHS Improvement
The mood was light-hearted way, but the six speakers said they were serious about ensuring many of goals discussed were achievable by 2026.
A different future
NHS Improvement director of people strategy Caroline Corrigan said: ‘In 2026, this panel, of five white men and one white woman, will not look like this.
‘We will have done something serious about representing the people we serve. We will have done something effective for our women leaders and will see the difference from having a woman’s point of view at a strategic level.
‘The language will be different, it is not a workforce, it is not human resources, it is not staff, it is people, our people. There will no longer be an ‘us’ and ‘them’ scenario.’
Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust divisional medical director Darren Kilroy said he wanted future staff who ‘look forward to being at work’.
Speaking as if it was 2026, he said: ‘Our medical and nursing staff spend half the week in hospital and the other half in industries such as aviation.
‘Staff learn an incredible amount and generate new ideas, which they bring back and feed to our system.
‘We no longer need surveys to engage with staff, we know what makes them feel valued and what makes them enjoy coming to work.’
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