At NHSGGC we acknowledge that Violence and Aggression (V&A) is risk that many of our employees are exposed to. We also know that it is a risk that can cause considerable fear & distress to those who are exposed to it. We want to look after & ensure the health, safety & well-being of our staff, as well as our patients and visitors.
We acknowledge that the V&A risk may never be, fully, eliminated, but it is our aim to reduce it to its lowest practicable level & to develop positive, respectful, relationships with each other and those who access our services.
To achieve this we have adopted a strategy which will help our services accurately identify the risk and implement measures to reduce and manage it.
Our strategy is based upon the NHS Scotland Core Values:
Care and Compassion
Dignity and Respect
Quality and Teamwork
Openness, Honesty and Responsibility.
We also strive to embed the following principles into our culture and working practices:
Professionalism, Effective Leadership and Teamwork: The presence of a competent, skilled, informed and proactive workforce
Compassion and Empathy: An authentic concern for the well-being others
Honesty and Trustworthiness: The ability to be relied upon to be truthful
Reflection: A thoughtful process seeking to make sense of behaviours actions, events and situations that occur in the workplace
Early Intervention, Prevention and De-escalation: A range of skills, strategies and environments designed to provide support at an early stage, reduce risk and reduce the need for tertiary measures and promote positive, respectful relationships
Trauma Informed: A workforce that is aware of psychological trauma, its impact & prevalence within society
Least Restrictive Alternative: A process where employees will only use the least Restrictive Intervention that is available to them at the time, to help them manage and contain risk Reciprocity A process whereby NHSGGC will work to ensure that the rights, safety and well-being of its employees, patients, visitors are protected as far as is reasonably practicable
The Health and Safety Violence Reduction Service HR Connect page contains information, resources, tools and links to further support, that are designed to help our services & staff to promote safety, reduce risk and promote positive, respectful relationships.
For an overview of Health and Safety training provided by the health and safety service that you may be required to undertake please refer to this training matrix.
If you require additional advice on Health & Safety training, please contact health.safety@ggc.scot.nhs.uk or any of the Health and Safety Service.
For Sharps and Falls eLearning training and Moving and Handling Competency Assessment programmes, the following scoping document will help you identify whether you require to undertake one or more of these programmes – Scope.
Health and Safety Education
Health and safety corporate training courses are accessible to all NHSGGC staff. Additional service specific and specialised courses are provided to Directorates and Services.
Nominations
Nominations are to be made via eESS with our course sitting under the Corporate Health and Safety Category.
Please note that you will need to ensure your information is up to date on eESS for receiving communication including MS Teams links. The refer to the Employees Help Guide on eESS for additional guidance For assistance with booking courses please refer to the following
Attendance will be recorded on eESS. Managers also have a duty to keep a record of who has attended training. To assist with this, if a delegate does not attend, managers will be notified via an eESS generated email..
Courses
Health and Safety Management
This course is for Health and Safety Management Manual holders and where identified their deputies. The manual holder will normally be a manager or supervisor with responsibility for the management of health and safety within their area of work.
This course is for managers who have a remit for health, safety and wellbeing; or staff with the management of health, safety and wellbeing identified within their personal development plan.
The course explains:
Health & Safety Roles & Responsibilities,
Safety Management System,
Health, Safety and Wellbeing Culture Framework.
Leadership & Behaviours The Plan, Do, Check, Act standard that the Health & Safety Executive promote and audit against.
Risk Assessment
This course is for staff who have been asked to conduct workplace risk assessments. The course will provide the delegate with a general awareness of how to undertake a generic risk assessment and complete the approved documentation. The awareness gained will supplement the workplace knowledge the delegate has in assisting them with the risk assessment process. The delegate, by attending this course, agrees to undertake risk assessments as directed by their Manager.
Those attending will:
Gain knowledge on the development of Risk Assessments within H&S Legislation.
Learn how to apply the principles of hazard and risk.
Increase their awareness of hazards at work and how to control them
Be able to undertake risk assessments
Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Assessors
This course is for staff who have been designated as the COSHH Assessor by the manager responsible for H&S for their service / area they work in. The delegate will be expected to undertake COSHH risk assessments when they have completed this course. It would be expected that generally only one COSHH Assessor would be required locally in any one area with the potential for this role to be shared between similar departments
Those attending will:
Gain awareness of The COSHH Regulations,
Understand the Chemical and other hazardous materials, labelling and Packaging Regulations
Be able to complete a COSHH Risk Assessment
Display Screen Assessment (DSE) Assessors
This course would be beneficial for departments or services with large DSE users groups. It is for staff who have been designated as the DSE Assessor by the manager responsible for H&S for their service / area they work in. Once trained, delegates will be expected to undertake DSE risk assessments.
It would be expected that generally only one DSE assessor would be required locally in any one area with the potential for this role to be shared between similar departments
Upon completion of the course delegates should:
Be aware of their responsibilities as a DSE Assessor
Be able to complete the DSE risk assessment form
Understand how to arrange a workstation appropriately
Be confident in identifying poor practice and giving practical solutions to resolve identified issues
Know where to access additional information or support Know how to order equipment
Face Fit Testers for FFP3 Respirators
About the course
This course is for staff identified to undertake the role of a face fit tester. The need for this will be expressed through a clinical risk assessment, which has identified the need for FFP3 oral nasal disposable mask respiratory protection to be used against respiratory borne pathogens. To use these masks, relevant staff must be ‘face fit tested’ to ensure that they can achieve a suitable face fit of the mask and that it operates at the required efficiency.
This 3.5 hour course is designed to ensure that the candidates selected to become face fit testers are provided with both the background knowledge and the practical skills set out in the HSE document INDG479, a copy of which can be found below. It is asked that candidates familiarise themselves with this document prior to attendance.
Delegates
Delegates are requested to bring testing kits if available from their department and drinking water for the training.
Please use the links below to print off the relevant documents to bring to the course.
Protect yourself, your colleagues, patients and visitors
It is important that all NSHGGC employees complete the health and safety training that is required of your role to ensure your Health and Safety knowledge is up to date in order to protect yourself, your colleagues, patients and visitors.
We agreed a number of targets with the Health and Safety Executive with regards to the following training:
Sharps
Falls
Moving & Handling Competency Assessments.
What do you need to do?
All staff within the scope of any of these training modules should complete the e-learning modules identified as a requirement for your role.
If you are not sure whether this applies to you please check your LearnPro account or speak to your line manager.
As manager it is important that you ensure your staff are aware of and complete the statutory and mandatory training requirements.
Reports are issued to managers by email on a monthly basis to show the role-specific and statutory and mandatory training compliance of all employees for whom you are identified as supervisor in eESS.
Compliance is colour-coded, and employees considered out of scope for role-specific training or who don’t have a LearnPro account (and have not undertaken face-to-face training) and so are considered Unknown are highlighted in grey
Staff who are unknown either need to create a LearnPro account, or ensure their pay number is recorded as their Identification Number on LearnPro. Step-by-step guidance on creating and updating a LearnPro account can be found here.
If there is an employee on this list that shouldn’t be, or an employee missing from the list, please contact eESS.
Sharps Training
All NHSGGC staff members must complete the following sharps training:
LearnPro NHS module GGC: 002 – Health and Safety, An Introduction. This module forms part of the NHSGGC statutory / mandatory suite of e-learning modules and must be retaken every three years.
In addition to GGC: 002, clinical staff who use sharps must also complete:
LearnPro NHS module NES: Prevention and Management of Occ. Exposure. This module forms part of the Scottish Infection Prevention and Control Education Pathway (SIPCEP) suite of e-learning modules and must be retaken every two years
Progress for all other staff
We want to remind everyone in scope to complete their training as soon as possible.
We are currently providing fortnightly updates to Directors and Chief Officers and this will continue until we achieve a sustained our 100% compliance rate.
We also recognise that some staff will be due to renew their sharps and falls training as it is valid for two years. Please ensure your certification does not expire by undertaking your refresh prior to it going out of date.
These programmes of training are vital for not only your health and safety but that of your colleagues, our patients and visitors.
If you require any further information on what is required please contact your line manager or email Health.Safety@ggc.scot.nhs.uk.
Mission Statement
To provide effective and high quality health and safety, moving and handling and violence and aggression advice, guidance, training and education to managers and staff, to enable them to ensure that NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde complies with relevant legislation and provide the best and safest possible healthcare for patients, staff and others.
Vision Statement
Our vision is to provide excellence in all aspects of our Service, thereby reducing work related accidents, ill health and injury to our staff and patients, year on year, by creating a positive health and safety culture across NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
This page has links to the rest of our site and more information of our service including contact details.
Contact Us
The Health and Safety Service is made up of a number of teams and services. Contact details for each team is available through the internal email system Health.Safety@ggc.scot.nhs.uk or through the main HR contact number: 0141 278 2700 (Option 4).
Further information on the teams
Moving and Handling Teams
There are three Moving and Handling Teams:
Acute Services North Team which covers everything north of the river, the new children’s hospital and renal services
Acute Services South Team which covers everything south of the river, with the above exceptions
Partnerships Team which covers all Partnerships within NHSGGC.
eESS is a single, national NHS Scotland approach to HR systems providing a high quality, standardised HR function.
All NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde staff will have an employee record on the system which interfaces with Payroll and the Scottish Standard Time System (SSTS) to provide real time workforce information and reports. Key features of the system will include:
Employee Self Service – Employees can view their employment record, make changes to personal data (eg. address), and request training.
Manager Self Service – Managers can approve requests and process changes (such as change of hours) through to payroll and will also be able to use manager self-service for improved workforce record keeping and reporting.
Core HR – see below
Oracle Learning Management System (OLM) – see below
Core
eESS Core is the control centre for HR Staff and Line Managers to capture workforce information in relation to employee personal records.
The Core Employee Record captures:
Changes to Contract
Eligibility to Work
Essential workers
Exit Interviews
Mentorship for AHP and NMC
Occupational Health Passport
Other non-NHS employment
Previous NHS employment
Qualifications and registrations
Supplementary roles
Terms and Conditions
HR users will have access to run and generate standard and non-standard reports to support workforce monitoring and planning.
By allowing staff eESS access, employees can view and update information, and ensure that HR and the Board holds accurate and the most up-to-date information.
Oracle Learning Management (OLM)
The Oracle Learning Management (OLM) component of eESS will enable improved access to and monitoring of all the activities associated with the learning and development of staff. This will include the administration of courses and the recording of learning undertaken by every employee, including e-Learning.
Courses can be linked to defined competencies, including national competence frameworks, so that current employee competencies and progress towards those competencies can be updated and monitored.
Benefits
Enables NHSGGC to manage all aspects of the delivery and maintenance of a learning service including the ability to access national courses which are centrally maintained.
OLM supports a blended approach to learning with NHSGGC able to offer a single point of access for all classroom courses and e-Learning across the Board through a unified catalogue.
Maintains information on:
Courses (any educational or development activity designed to enhance an employee’s competencies, qualifications or experience)
Classes (a single occurrence of a course on a particular date)
Resources (such as trainers, equipment or venues)
Employees can directly enrol to courses, subject to manager approval.
The LearnPro interface will automatically update learning records when an e-Learning course is completed.
Employee competencies can be associated with courses. Once a member of staff has completed the course, his or her employee record can be updated with the new competency automatically.
Monitoring of compliance with mandatory training. For example, a skill may require a refresher course every 12 months; OLM will enable you to report on those employees who are due for refresher learning.
A wide range of reports enables learning and development to be monitored at a local and national level.
Automatic system generated e-mail delivered to staff upon:
Full access to all Standard Operating Procedures and e-Learning videos is available on the eESS National Team website.
Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (OBIEE)
OBIEE is the integrated Reporting Tool that allows organisations to build and develop a range of reports and dashboards that meets statutory and local reporting requirements. It will support workforce planning and align to requirements for Staff Governance reporting and analysis.
The best way to contact the eESS Team is via the new HR Connect Self-Service Portal which launched on 6th June 2022 – Please ensure that you add the link to your Favourites for easy access.
If your enquiry is urgent or you would prefer to talk to a member of the eESS Team please contact us by telephone 0141 278 2700 option 5 – Press 1 for the eESS Support Team, Press 2 for the eESS Technical Team . The phone lines are open between 9.00am and 3.00pm, Monday to Friday
Please note when calling the eESS Team for the first time you may be required to provide some key details about who you are and where you work.
Your details will be stored in our system which means when you contact the eESS Team again these details will not need to be taken and a simple check will be done to ensure the details are still correct.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has reaffirmed its ongoing commitment to those individuals who currently serve, our Reservists and those veterans who are key members of our society by signing the Armed Forces Covenant.
The strong relationship between NHSGGC and the UK Armed Forces is greatly valued, with the Health Board already working to support employees who also are Reservists.
By signing the Covenant, NHSGGC pledged its commitment to supporting armed forces veterans, recognising the value they contribute and acknowledging that serving personnel and military families should be treated with fairness and respect.
The Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) encourages employers to support members of our workforce who are part of the Armed Forces Community.
NHSGGC’s dedication to ensuring that all members of its workforce feel valued is evident, with a particular emphasis on supporting those who are part of the Armed Forces Community. The organisation’s communications and activities are carefully designed to celebrate and encourage this community, and we were delighted to be recognised for this work through achieving the Gold level in the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme.
Are you a member of the Volunteer Reserve Forces or a Regular Reservist working in NHSGGC?
The regular training that the Reserve Forces undertake brings essential skills into the workplace such as leadership, communication, team working and organisational ability, which ultimately lead to improved performance in the workplace.
The Reserve Forces Training Policy is an established National NHS Scotland policy within our suite of workforce policies and we hope that we can be confident that all NHS Scotland employers are treating their staff who are members of the Reserve Forces equally.
To help us to ensure you are aware of the support that NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde can offer, we would ask you to register with the Board Contact: Diana Hudson, Staff Experience Adviser, Diana.Hudson@ggc.scot.nhs.uk.
When registering, we ask that you complete the Reservists Registration Form and submit this to the Board Contact. By completing these details, we’re able to securely hold your contact details to update you on any changes to policy, process or any other information in relation to NHS Reserve Forces staff. Please get in touch with the Board Contact for a registration form.
Staff Governance is a term which describes the framework for managing employees inside NHS Scotland. The commitments surrounding the framework, are in place to ensure all staff have a positive experience at work, where they feel motivated and engaged with their role, team and the Board.
Staff Governance is defined as: “a system of corporate accountability for the fair and effective management of all staff”.
It can be measured through assurance that the Standard commitments are being met, and this is assessed locally via the Staff Governance Committee of each Board.
Staff Governance Standard
The Staff Governance Standard sets out what each NHSScotland employer must achieve in order to continuously improve in relation to the fair and effective management of staff. Click on the links for more information.
There are 5 Staff Governance Standard commitments set out what staff can expect from their NHS Scotland Board, and they are that staff should be:
Well informed
Appropriately trained and developed
Involved in decisions
Treated fairly and consistently, with dignity and respect, in an environment where diversity is valued
Provided with a continuously improving and safe working environment, promoting the health and wellbeing of staff, patients and the wider community.
However, the Standard also sets out corresponding responsibilities for staff (at any level within the organisation). Staff should:
Keep themselves up to date with developments relevant to their job within the organisation
Commit to continuous personal and professional development
Adhere to the standards set by their regulatory bodies
Actively participate in discussions on issues that affect them either directly or via their trade union/professional organisation
Treat all staff, patients and service users with dignity and respect while valuing diversity
Ensure that their actions maintain and promote the health, safety and wellbeing of all staff, patients, service users and carers.
These dual commitments are in place to ensure all staff have a positive experience at work, where they feel motivated and engaged with their role, team and the Board.
NHSGGC Staff Governance Committee assesses how well the Board is complying with these Standards.
The Vision and Framework for Fair Work in Scotland, state that, by 2025, people in Scotland will have a world-leading working life where fair work drives success, wellbeing and prosperity for individuals, businesses, organisations and for society.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) is committed to the Fair Work principles in order to deliver Scottish Government ambitions of a Fair Work Nation.
As a large public sector organisation, we work in partnership to align the Fair Work principles through commitment to the Staff Governance Standard, as well as a range of other activities and plans across the organisation including, the Procurement Strategy, Workforce Equality plans, Learning and Education activity, the Staff Health Strategy, Safety and Wellbeing plans, flexible and family friendly HR policies, and our Workforce Plan. Additionally, NHSGGC are proud to be a Living Wage Accredited employer.
Staff Governance Committee
The Staff Governance Committee (SGC) is a standing committee of each NHS Board which, together with the Clinical Governance Committee and Audit Committee, forms the full governance framework for NHS Boards.
The purpose of the Staff Governance Committee is to provide assurance to the Board that NHSGGC meets its obligations in relation to Staff Governance under the National Health Service Reform (Scotland) Act 2004 and the Staff Governance Standard. The Staff Governance Committee is a Standing Committee of the Board.
The Committee ensures that structures and policies are in place to provide assurance that all staff are:
Well informed
Appropriately trained and developed
Involved in decisions
Treated fairly and consistently, with dignity and respect, in an environment where diversity is valued
Provided with a continuously improving and safe working environment, promoting the health and wellbeing of staff, patients and the wider community.
Each Health and Social Care Partnership, Acute Services and Corporate Directorate have their own Staff Governance arrangements and structure.
The Staff Governance Committee meets four times per year to review and as part of each Committee meeting, speakers provide assurance that structures, actions and processes are in place to meet the Standard.
The NHSGGC Staff Governance Committee is co-chaired by Ketki Miles (Non-Executive Director) and Ann Cameron-Burns (Employee Director).
The Staff Experience Team runs a programme of Collaborative Conversations Staff Engagement Sessions to hear more from staff about their staff experience.
In 2023, and early 2024, we ran a programme of conversations with staff to test how we were using feedback from iMatter and Investors in People. At those Staff Engagement Sessions we asked staff for their input on what difference they’ve seen over the last year and what they think would make the biggest difference to their experience at work and the experience of colleagues.
The staff feedback was provided to the Investors in People (IiP) Cluster groups to inform their improvement plans and help create a better workplace in all our areas.
Now, in 2024, the team is now working with local services and teams to identify key themes from the 2024 iMatter survey to plan this year’s programme of Collaborative Conversations. Feedback from these will inform both Cluster IiP actions, local Directorate and Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) activity, and the NHSGGC Board action plan.
In addition, we have been running a series of Conversations to engage with staff about the Workforce Strategy, both to provide an overview of progress from the current Strategy, and to help inform the Strategy from 2025. This helps the team understand what staff feel is important to see included in the Strategy and help deliver a strategy that moves culture and leadership to where we want it to be.
Staff experience takes account of a staff members full employment journey, from being a prospective candidate right up the point they leave an organisation.
As an employer, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) wants to ensure all staff have a positive experience at work, through:
Ensuring visibility of, and access to, the right people and the right information at the right times
Developing capability, inspire ownership, accountability and trust at all levels, and empowering the workforce
Ensuring equality, diversity and inclusion to continuously establish a fairer workplace for all
Creating and embedding two-way, feedback rich conversations throughout the organisation
Encouraging a culture of excellence, celebrate success, benchmark against world class standards.
The Staff Experience team work in a number of areas, to ensure NHSGGC staff to have the most positive experience. The key areas of work and contact details for the team are outlined below.
The Staff Experience Team
Our Staff Experience team is committed to growing an inclusive organisation, where every employee is treated fairly and consistently, with dignity and respect. To get in touch, please email us at ggc.staffexperience@ggc.scot.nhs.uk
The team consists of the following members and you can contact them via the buttons below:
iMatter is the NHS Scotland Staff Experience continuous improvement tool, developed nationally, and used within all NHSScotland Boards.
iMatter is designed to help individuals, teams, Directorates, Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs) and Boards, understand and improve staff experience. This is a term used to describe the extent to which employees feel motivated, supported and cared for at work. It is reflected in levels of engagement, motivation and productivity.
The process is based on a staff engagement questionnaire which all staff are asked to respond to, which generates a Team Report. The team discusses the report and agrees the team strength(s) along with up to 3 improvement actions. This improvement plan is captured on a team ‘Storyboard’ which the team then uses to monitor progress. The process is then completed annually.
Please note, Actions Plans should be completed for allteams. The below documents are designed to support the Action Planning process, however please get in touch at iMatter@ggc.scot.nhs.uk if you require any further support.
For any questions, support or guidance regarding iMatter, or if you would like to share any iMatter success stories, please contact the iMatter mailbox at imatter@ggc.scot.nhs.uk