Two York St John academics shortlisted for regional award

Frances Dodd and Rachel Martin are in the running for a Golden Hearts PACT Award for Positive Culture and Team Spirit 2016. The awards scheme is an initiative by the Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust.

The nomination includes Frances, Rachel and 20 clinical lead physiotherapists from the Trust and is based on a leadership coaching programme that the two developed and delivered specifically for the physiotherapists.

As part of the AHP leadership module in 2013-14, led by York St John University, Frances and Rachel were asked to work with the Trust physiotherapy team and devised the 360 Transformational Leadership Development programme. This involved a number of processes including questionnaires, feedback, one-to-one coaching sessions and evaluations. At the culmination of the training, Frances and Rachel held a follow up discussion with the Hull Physiotherapy Manager to highlight themes, on a team basis, that had been highlighted. These were used to make a departmental action plan for team development and training.

Feedback from attendees to the programme rated it as either ‘very useful’ (71% of respondents) or ‘useful’ (29%), with one attendee nominating the team for a Golden Hearts award.

Nicky Gilchrist, Physiotherapy Manager at Hull Royal Infirmary, said: “One of the immediate outcomes from this has been a noticeable improvement in the leadership style of some of the clinical leads, with a greater awareness of the needs and support required by staff. Other clinical leads have reported increased confidence in attending and have prioritised their presence at clinical service and governance meetings. 

“Moving forwards the candidates are to use the 360° feedback to influence objective setting and service developments within their sections to ensure continued benefits from the time invested in this training. The ultimate aim is to ensure that all our clinical leads have the confidence to contribute to clinical quality, patient safety and service transformation as Physiotherapy is an essential component of high quality care and contributes to efficiency and effectiveness”

Award winners will be announced at a special ceremony on Friday 20 May 2016.