Manx Care is a learning organisation; since our establishment, we have put cultural change as one of our three priorities.
The board and all of our leadership team know and recognise the significant importance of listening, being willing to change and demonstrating our core values. We welcome this independent Culture of Care Barometer survey and we have a commitment to repeat the survey on an annual basis following the survey being conducted for the first time in March 2022.
This year’s survey was sent to around 160 Doctors working for the organisation who are members of the BMA, and completed by 72 respondents; it provides a very helpful snapshot of the opinions of those employees; Manx Care employs almost 3,000 people.
The results of the survey were shared with us on Friday afternoon (16 June 2023), and we now look forward to a collaborative and constructive dialogue with our medical colleagues, and the BMA.
Whilst the survey results highlight there is a lot of work to do to develop the culture of the organisation, we are encouraged by a number of the results and comments which highlight that progress is slowly being made, including:
- Many colleagues feel they have sufficient time to do their job, know what is expected of them and get the training and development they need to succeed
- The survey acknowledges that colleagues feel their Line Managers treat them with respect, they feel respected by their co-workers, and they are surrounded by positive role models
- Colleagues feel they can have influence within their teams
- Management is seen to be fair throughout the organisation
- Manx Care understands colleagues’ roles and supports them in doing these
- Primary Care is seen as a good place to work, with a positive culture
- Communication is strong, with recognition that Managers work hard to communicate with their teams
The survey results indicate that colleague do not always feel they have the resources they need. This is something we are acutely aware of and have been working in partnership with the Isle of Man Government to address.
Manx Care has taken significant steps over the last year to address its long-standing and hard-to-recruit vacancies, and many posts are now filled substantively. Our international Nurse recruitment has also been successful, with many long-standing nursing vacancies also filled.
Along with the entire health and social care system internationally, staffing shortages remain, and we are relentless in our focus and commitment to addressing this.
We recognise that the development of a healthy culture will always be a work in progress, and that we still have a way to go in order to establish and fully embed the culture we wish to see within all areas of our organisation. Equally, we recognise that there are areas within the organisation or certain staff groups where cultural challenges are stronger than others.
Changing the culture of our organisation will not happen overnight. There are a number of things which tell us that we’re moving in the right direction, including feedback from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspections held during the last year, and from the Partnership Working Forum that we have established with our Staff Side representatives which meets monthly.
Some other important areas we are focusing on include the development of a People and Culture strategy, listening to staff stories at the bi-monthly People Committee and at monthly Board Meetings. Hearing the voices of our colleagues is important to our organisation.
This report provides another opportunity for us to listen and improve and we welcome it.
