Successful outcomes

The online stage 2 course for stewards launched last year and was open to stewards who had already completed their initial induction training.

It was an experiential learning course, giving stewards structured support whilst they carried out a workplace project. Participants could choose to run projects on one of these areas:

• casework and representing members
• negotiating with managers and attending staff-side/JNC
• organising – mapping and building the CSP team
• organising – campaigning in the workplace.

Pam Pelders, a steward who works at Aneurin Bevan University Health Board’s Canolfan Serennu Blant/Serennu Children’s Centre chose to focus on negotiating with managers. 

Pam approached the trust Physiotherapy Partnership Working Group about implementing a new rotational feedback form. She then worked with other members of the group to introduce an efficient and effective way to collect and distribute rotational staff feedback. 

Pam wanted to work on this project as she felt that offering constructive feedback could uplift staff morale and facilitate opportunities for improvement in the rotational experience.

‘There was an opportunity to update the current rotational feedback form for the rotational band 5 and 6s within Aneurin Bevan University Health Board,’ Pam says.

‘An initial survey was sent out to rotational staff and a focus group was set up for CSP members to create new questions. The feedback form will now be used to shape a positive future for rotational staff. The project was a huge success due to the involvement of CSP members. It demonstrated the positive impact CSP members can have on the workplace and driving positive change.’

Identifying themes of workplace stress

Scott Webster, a steward at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, developed a project as part of the strand on ‘organising – campaigning in the workplace’. 

Scott, along with other CSP stewards at his hospital including Emma McMorris, completed a long-term stress project within the therapy department that focused on identifying themes of workplace stress, understanding members views and creating a 12-month action plan alongside physiotherapy managers.

A stress survey was carried out, and interviews were conducted at physiotherapy band meetings. The stewards then analysed the data and proposed an action plan to managers and agreed a series of outcomes for the next 12 months. 

As a result of the project, a large piece of work within the department has been undertaken by physiotherapy managers to offer a flexible working pilot to all staff, helping tackle some of the identified areas of stress that research showed. 

A television was sourced for the staff room to help improve communication and reduce the number of emails, which was a frequent complaint from staff. More lockers were also obtained for the department, as staff had expressed concern about a lack of storage space for personal items. In addition, work is now ongoing for all physiotherapy staff to have access to the room bookings system so that staff can better plan their weeks within the busy department.

‘The project meant that members had the opportunity to have their voice heard and discuss causes of stress and what they feel could be better,’ says Scott.

‘This led to a realistic and meaningful action plan being proposed that gained the support of managers. The project will continue until March when the CSP stress survey will be repeated.’

Professional development for support workers

Suzahn Wilson, a steward at West Suffolk Hospital, decided to use the course to be able to contribute to a piece of work in her trust which was looking at improving opportunities for professional development and support for therapy support workers.

Suzahn represented the CSP on a newly-established AHP support worker steering group, which aimed to use the Allied Health Professions’ Support Worker Competency, Education, and Career Development Framework (2021) to explore the needs of occupational therapy and physiotherapy assistants.

The group met regularly over eight months to scope, identify and recommend key priorities for the trust. 

These included: working to provide more clearly defined roles as outlined in the framework; improving resources for supervision and appraisals; developing training resources and improving communication regarding CPD opportunities including apprenticeships.

As a result of the work a rolling programme of training workshops has been run, hosted by speciality therapy teams specifically aimed at therapy support workers. 

Feedback collected from the workshops will inform the planning for the following year’s training, and the project outputs will also inform further work and initiate a cycle of service transformation.

‘The steering group worked collaboratively to identify some key issues to address and were able to identify feasible solutions that we could take forward to wider stakeholders,’ says Suzahn.

‘As part of the project I was also able to raise awareness of the benefits of CSP membership for support staff and show how the CSP facilitates change in the workplace.’