SAFIRE 6CS IN ACTION
AIMS
1. Improve and develop service user
experience.
2. Improve team morale
3. Identify and highlight areas of good
practise.
4. Identify areas for development and
further training
The 6Cs Action Board On Safire
This board highlights the numerous pledges that the team have already made. The
aim is for staff to evidence the work done on these pledges every 3 months.
Making the 6Cs have meaning to our
team
Pledges were asked from all members of the
team from the ward manager, nurses, support
workers, students and pharmacist.
The aim was to use the 6Cs as a means of not
only improving and developing service users
experiences on the unit but also ensuring that
this has meaning for the team and does not
end up a task dictated to but led by the team.
Examples of 6C pledges made by the
SAFIRE team
“ I will develop the role of Physical Health
Nurse on SAFIRE. Developing a resource area
and a package of resource care plans and
information. This will have the aim of
promoting health promotion within our client
group “
Katrina Kernaghan ( Staff Nurse )
Promoting the physical health of SAFIRE Clients. This board
is part of the development of the units physical health area
and can be seen to highlight and action all of the 6C’s
Another SAFIRE 6C pledge
“With the assistance of team members, clients
and carers I will participate in the ‘15 Steps
Challenge ‘ in 2013/14. The aim of this
challenge is to improve and expand on the
quality of care provided from a service users
perspective .”
Nigel Hird ( Ward Manager )
This pledge was decided upon following meeting with a family and hearing their
experiences on the unit. The family want to participate in this challenge to help the
team develop the quality of care a client receives . This has also had the outcome of
changing what was a negative outcome into a positive.
What is the 15 step challenge
• In 2010-11 the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement held a series
of focus groups with patients and relatives; these groups included ethnic
minority groups, older people and parents. Several also included staff
from different teams and service areas. The focus groups discussed what
"good" looks like to patients. Do first impressions count? What is it staff do
that makes patients feel confident and valued?
• During one of these workshops a mother who often had to take her
daughter to a hospital ward told us: "I can tell what kind of care my
daughter is going to get within 15 steps of walking on to a ward". This led
us to ask "how did she know?", and sparked the development of the 15
Steps Challenge toolkit, which was launched last year for acute
organisations.
• While this mother's statement referred to her acute hospital experience,
many service users and relatives told us the principle was also true for
mental health inpatient settings and community care.
What is the aim of the 15 step
challenge on SAFIRE
• A way of understanding service users first
impressions more clearly
• A method for service users, staff and others to
work together to identify improvements.
• Help to develop the overall quality of practice
• Support for continuous improvement
• Conversation starter about what is working well
and what can be done to improve the service
user experience
First steps in the challenge
Development of a welcome area at the front of the unit. This area will include a staff
photo board and a client welcome board that explains the functions and roles of the
unit in a client friendly manner.
Improving the clients bed spaces with welcome packs and lockable space has
already received positive feedback and helped to enhance the SAFIRE service
user experience.
Other examples
• Communication and Courage: redevelopment of
the patient forum meetings. Enable clients to feel
that they have a voice and that it is being heard
Camilla Smith ( Staff Nurse )
• Competence: The development of a student
training pack looking at physical observations
Chris Leigh ( Student Nurse )
Staff feedback so far....
• Initially staff were sceptical about pledging with comments
such as why and what's the point raised during the first
team meeting. However 3 months later here is a couple of
examples of staff feedback and how they have felt about
our team pledges
“ The 6c pledges have made myself as an individual and the
team as a whole focus on what we get right and on what
we get wrong. It challenges us to think , reflect and
evaluate the care we give . It makes the team work
together to improve the service we provide “
“ The pledges ensure that the 6c experience on the unit has
meaning “
Client feedback
• This following feedback was received from a
client and can correlate with the pledge the
staff nurse had made. It is also evidence of
how the team embrace the true meaning of
the 6Cs in our everyday practise.
I've been admitted to Safire 5 times in the last year, and I find the staff there
fantastic. Despite me being a very difficult patient at times and making their jobs
hard they never once judged me and only cared for me. My most recent stay
especially, a staff nurse spoke to me for over an hour when I was distressed and
calmed me down, in a professional and brilliant manner. I literally have nothing
bad to say about Safire, the staff are amazing and fantastic at their jobs and
deserve every acknowledgement of their, for lack of a better word, awesomeness!!