We are thrilled to share insights from the third instalment of the ISQua EEA Webinar series, which brought to life the critical new themes within the the 6th Edition Guidelines and Principles for the Development of Health and Social Care Standards!
The Focus on Supporting the Care Workforce webinar delved into some of the new concepts in the 6th Edition Principles, offering valuable perspectives from leading experts in the field.
Nicola McCauley-Conlan, ISQua EEA’s Senior Accreditation Manager, provided an essential overview of Principle 8, Supporting the Care Workforce, of the new ISQua EEA Principles. She outlined the 10 criteria under this principle, including the five newly introduced criteria. These new criteria address crucial topics like protecting staff from violence and aggression, using feedback for improvements, monitoring data on sick leave and retention, promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion, and supporting workforce well-being and psychological safety. She also highlighted relevant criteria in Principle 4 that focus on assessing safety culture and supporting staff involved in safety incidents, also known as the “second victim” concept.
Professor José Mira from the European Researchers’ Network Working on Second Victims (The ERNST Group) introduced the concept of the “second victim” highlighting that healthcare workers directly or indirectly involved in adverse events can suffer from burnout, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and have a higher risk of leaving the profession. Professor Mira introduced the ERNST consortium’s five-stage model for supporting second victims following an adverse event which includes peer support along with structured professional and clinical support. He highlighted the progress in developing support models in recent years including many European initiatives.
Dr. Piyawan Limpanyalert shared Thailand’s experience in enhancing workforce safety through national policy and hospital accreditation standards. She highlighted a significant shift from focusing solely on patient safety to a “2P Safety” approach, starting in 2016 which focused on both patient and personnel safety. This approach was reflected in the Healthcare Accreditation Institute’s hospital and healthcare accreditation standards through the incorporation of the requirements of the WHO’s Charter of Healthcare Worker Safety into the risk management system standards. She outlined that a healthcare workforce related criteria was subsequently selected as one of the national patient and personnel safety goals in Thailand which facilitated the capturing of data nationally on the number of healthcare workers acquiring healthcare infections in the course of their work.
Professor Paul Bowie discussed the concept of psychological safety in a broader context, emphasising its relationship with organisational and systemic factors rather than just individual effort. He defined psychological safety as an environment where people feel comfortable taking interpersonal risks, such as speaking up and respectfully disagreeing. He advised leaders to foster this culture by changing their language and adopting a more systems-thinking approach, using terms like “incident” or “event” and “learning review” instead of “error” or “investigation”. He highlighted that many tools exist to help encourage conversations among teams about safety culture among them Safety Culture Discussion Cards.
The webinar concluded with a shared understanding that integrating supportive practices and fostering a psychologically safe environment is crucial for advancing healthcare quality and accessibility worldwide.
We are delighted to share the recording of the full Focus on Supporting the Care Workforce webinar with the ISQua EEA network. To listen to the full discussion, you can access the webinar recording HERE.
Resources:
ERNST – COST Action CA19113 – The European Researchers’ Network Working on Second Victims
NHS Scotland Safety Culture Cards_FINAL_May.pdf – Google Drive
