Maxine & Matt #2: NHS People Promise - We Are A Team

Matt chats with Maxine Obeng about the NHS People Promise - 'We Are A Team'. What does it mean, and how well can it work? Expect to hear about festivals, coming together, leadership, the benefit of away days, snowy white peaks, diversity and the 'tangible chaos' that is NHS nursing.

About Maxine

Maxine is Assistant Director Perinatal Mental Health within the NHS.

She has over 10 years experience in healthcare, with a special interest in organisational transformation, change management and improving quality through workforce development.

Through her own company she helps nurses and healthcare professionals reach their career goals.

Find Maxine on Linkedin, and on Instagram.

Topics covered in this Podcast, with useful links:

Shambala Festival and gathering together around things as a collective or a Team!

NHS England - The Promise

Why Nurses leave the NHS

Public Health England, cost of staff absence

List of the largest employers

NHS Staff Retention Costs

Amy Moore's Linkedin story about life as a RN being "tangibly chaotic"

Number of Nurses on NMC Register

Is the staffing crisis just about pay?

The People Plan and the People Promise

Diversity (gender, BAME, inter-generational)

Snowy White Peaks of the NHS

Gender Equality

Do Gender Proportions Within Upper Management Correspond To Lower Bandings?

We talked about the proportions of male nurses versus female (11% / 89%) and what this looks like as you move up the bandings. We did some research and found this which proved Maxine right!:

"in NHS England and NHS Improvement, women occupy 55.3% of the highest paid jobs and 78.8% of the lowest paid jobs. On the other hand, men occupy 44.7% of the highest paid jobs and 21.2% of the lowest paid jobs."

and...

"In England, male nurses were proportionally higher at bands 6-8, with the biggest differences seen at 8a and 8d. Men made up 15.9% of 8a nurses, despite only forming 11.3% of the overall nurse workforce.... Scotland saw the biggest difference at band 8d, with 20.1% of male nurses at this pay band, with an overall male nurse workforce of 10.6%"

Motherhood penalty

Code switching

Wanting to get out of bed to go to work should be a right, not a privilege

Managers and Leaders

Away days

Celebrating as a team

Accountability in care

Value systems

Unintended outcome of Covid

The NHS remains a fantastic idea

Servant Leadership