Directors and senior managers are going “back to the floor” to spend time working alongside front line staff so that they can better understand what really happens on the “shop floor”.  The scheme which launched on 7 December will give directors and senior managers the chance to see first-hand the rewards and frustrations that frontline staff experience as well as providing opportunities for identifying improvements that will make a real difference to patients and staff.  Julie Waldron, Chief Executive, was one of the first people to participate. 

Julie said “My time spent working on reception at the Warneford Hospital was eye-opening.  I got to see the variety and crucial importance of what staff there do each day and to witness some of the pressures they are under.  It demonstrated what good customer service is”. 

Directors who have also gone “Back to the Floor” include David Bradley, Chief Operating Officer, who spent a morning at the Wallingford Community Hospital, serving breakfast and participating in patient care meetings and Graeme Armitage, Director of Human Resources and Organisational Development, who worked a shift as a Healthcare Assistant at Witney Community Hospital, and also Sharon Fennell, Associate Director of Operations, has also participated in the scheme at Cotswold House, Marlborough.

So far feedback has been positive with frontline staff welcoming the scheme and recognising how it will enable to managers to pick up issues and help find solutions for staff quickly.

The scheme will fully roll out during 2012 with managers spending at least two days per year working on the shop floor alongside frontline staff.