Improving the Trust induction

ELFT Induction Coordinator Natalie Moyanah writes about the recent quality improvements made to the Trust’s staff induction

Our induction is now comprised as a one day session for all members of staff to gain a perspective of the Trust with an emphasis on conveying the Trust’s values of respect, care and inclusion. The current induction has changed from one based over five days which included the delivery of the Core and Essential statutory and mandatory skills for both clinical and non-clinical staff. Having run the 5 day induction for quite a period of time, the Training & Development team along with the Trust felt that a long induction was becoming more of a hindrance rather than aiding our staff, as a lot of essential clinical time was lost. With this in mind, along with our vision for Quality Improvement, we worked with feedback from our past induction delegates and also with the previous Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to see how the induction could be altered to best benefit the staff for their knowledge about the Trust, along with allowing them also complete their Core and Essential skills.

The one day induction is now based on expressing the visions, values and core beliefs of the Trust. It was felt that bringing these beliefs centre stage of the induction would vastly aid new members of staff to the culture and quality of ELFT. It begins with a welcome from one of the Trust Executives firstly to enable staff to meet those at the head of the Trust and also in part for them to ask any questions that they may want answered. This is extremely effective as staff feel welcomed by having someone such as the Chief Executive take time out of their schedule to meet them and also gives an approachable tone to the day. We later move onto staff meeting some of our Service Users so that they can learn about their experiences and also set in their minds why Quality Improvement is important and how they can aid in this even if they are non-clinical. We also include a Health and Well-being session in which staff will learn about things that the Trust can help them with to aid in their working life and personal life. Things such as the Cycle to Work scheme or how to manage stress are included. Finally, we finish the day with the Quality Improvement session where staff can learn how we strive to better our Trust by strengthening the relationships and interaction between our staff and our Service Users.

Although the one day induction does focus mainly on the visions and values of the Trust, this is not to say that it abstains from the Core and Essential training. With times moving forward and computer use growing, it has made sense for the Trust to press forward with an e-learning system for our staff. E-learning has been felt to benefit staff greatly as they are no longer having to complete mandatory training during induction and they are able to access the courses whenever they have time and also from home. Furthermore, with the e-learning, staff are still able to learn and understand the core messages and trainings for each course. A brief introduction for our e-learning system OLM is included in the induction and the day sets out to cultivate an ethos of learning and is a constant theme running throughout the day. Staff members are then also given a chance a few days after the induction to complete some of their e-learning whilst the Training Team are around, so that if any issues arise, they can be addressed. Subsequent to the induction, Core Training days are also provided for staff. These Core Training days also allow those who require face-to-face training which cannot be delivered via OLM, such as CPR, the chance to complete these important exercises.

All in all, this revitalisation of ELFT’s induction along with the Core Training days is revolutionary. Staff experience the belief of the Trust first hand and learn about the importance of improving and developing our values and beliefs. The new induction is proof of quality improvement in action.