Trust Vision and Values 4

Communications strategy

December 2012

A member of Cambridge University Health Partners Contents

Introduction...... 3 Trust vision and values...... 4 Internal communications...... 7 External Communications...... 9 Media...... 9 Stakeholder communications...... 11 Service user communications...... 12 Electronic Communications...... 12 Branding...... 12 Evaluation...... 13 Strategy review...... 13 Introduction

This strategy sets out:

 The scope, role and responsibilities of the communications team and the overarching strategy for its development  The communications activity which will be undertaken  Communications objecives  Methods to monitor, report and evaulate communications activity

In and organisation with such a fast-paced change agenda and a disparate workforce, good , communication is essential. The principles of ‘good’ communication we will follow are:

 Timliness  Appropriateness  Clarity  Consistency  Regularity

All proactive communications should be planned and a communications activity calendar is attached as Appendix one.

The Trust has a number of audiences and streams of activity. This strategy is broken down into:

 Communications function development  Internal communications  External communications o Stakeholder relations o Media relations o Direct service user relations  Electronic communications o Website o Intranet o Other social media and electronic communications

Each section contains a brief analysis of the relevant strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and identifies headline activity for the period to March 2014.

This strategy does not cover marketing and business development activity as this is handled separately. However, communications can and should play a large part in supporting the activity of business development and this should remain a focus area in an increasingly competitive NHS marketplace.

Although governor relations are currently handled in a separate team, the vision is to bring this team together with communications and this creates an opportunity to strengthen communications with this group of stakeholders, as well as others.

3 2012 has been a year of significant flux and change for communications and it is vital that stability is brought to the team, both in terms of staffing and in terms of practice and process. This paper looks briefly at the overall strategic direction of the communications function and how this will develop to March 2014. Any change would be accompanied by the appropriate level of consultation with staff at the appropriate time.

Trust vision and values

The vision and values of the Trust set the principles by which all teams, including communications, deliver their services.

These are:

Vision - We deliver high-quality health and social care that promotes wellbeing and independence and which we are proud to recommend to our families and friends

Values There are four key values that underpin this vision. These are:  We focus on the needs of the whole person; we aim to consistently exceed the expectations of our service users and their carers by making every interaction with them count. We work with people to meet their goals and aspirations.  We have high standards in all that we do: we are uncompromising in our pursuit of excellence, we only do what is known to work, we evaluate everything that we do and share the data with others to allow them to hold us to account. We expect that everyone will give the best they can  We trust, value and develop each other: we build a great place to work, where people are inspired to be the best they can be, where they are engaged in decisions that affect them and where they are empowered to deliver better and safer services.  We are good people to do business with: we value our teams & our partners and believe that we can achieve more by working together for the benefit of the people that we serve. We are the provider of choice, we offer value for money and work collaboratively with our partners to solve their problems

As a team, we must exemplify these values, and ensure they are reflected thorughout all communications activity.

Appendix two details how communications can deliver the specific objectives of the Trust.

4 Strategy for development of the Communications Function

There is currently one full time permanent member of staff situated in the corporate centre of the organisation, responsible for all Trust communications activity. Recruitment is currently underway for an additional communications professional.

From January 2013 the communications function will sit within the remit of the Trust Secretary. The plan is to strengthen the current team with an additional senior communications officer. The team will form a larger joint team with the current Trust secretariat.

There are a number of additional posts across the organisation with a remit for communications. This presents a significant risk for the organisation in terms of management of messages and consistency of communication.

Strategically, it would be appropriate to bring together all officers with a responsibility for communications under one management line. Even if officers are based in other locations, it is vital that their work and expertise forms part of the Trust’s overall communications activity.

Recruitment has been a significant issue for communications over the past year. This is a similar picture elsewhere with good quality communications professionals at a premium. Therefore, retention of good, existing staff is essential and a particualr focus should be given to ensuring the provision of regular one to ones, appraisals and the opportunity to be creative and work in a motivational environment.

There are also opportunities to implement improved processes. For example, media enquiries are still handled and recorded manually, whereas software such as Newsflash (others are available) provides a web-based portal for recording all information – proactive and reactive – and enable the easy running of reports for directors and Board members.

Currently, no regular reports on communications activity and its effectiveness are provided to the Board or to directors. Such information is key as it provides detail and intelligence on internal and external mood and reputation, which must inform decision-making.

Strengths Weaknesses

 Committed member of staff  Low staffing levels  Good range of communications  Ability to recruit methods (particularly internal)  All work still carried out manually (monitoring, recording etc) Opportunities Threats

 Chance to rebuild reputation  Fragile staffing situation  Good chance to introduce strong  Too much internal focus – staff communications processes become demoralised  Encouraging environment for  Messages become blocked / distorted creativity

5 Headline activity for the period to March 2014

 Recruitment of core team  Arrival of Trust Secretary and merger of communications and secretariat  Centralisation of communications function  Implementation of core basic processes such as Newsflash  Implementation of regular directors reports (either verbal or written)

6 Internal communications

Internal communications is critical to the flow of information across a geographically-dispersed Trust with more than 90 sites and a wide range of services. The communications team has a central role in helping to knit together the organisation, building a sense of common vision and values.

Communications has a strategic role in supporting the delivery of key HR programmes and projects, particularly those involving change and organisational development. This can typically encompass:

 Support in develoment of the story and messaging.  Strategic planning of wider staff messaging (integrating communications with those for other initiatives).  Development and implementation of communication plans.  Development of communications materials (booklets, posters, intranet pages, presentations, events, etc).  Evaluation of communications, and of the impact of the project.

The level of communications team input will vary according to the requirement of the initiative and the capability and capacity of the project team; initiatives are most often owned by the HR or operational teams.

The quantity of regular communications activity is strong and established and includes:

 Attila’s message  Staff news  Intranet  Staff events  Feedback methods (ie: Diamond Talkback)

There are also initiatives in place, such as:

 Ask Attila  FedEx  Quality Heroes  Staff awards

This is a strong menu and it is not recommended to add anything in the period to 2014 but to focus on delivering these things really well and harnessing feedback to refine them and make them more effective.

Software is available and should be explored, which would make things such as Staff News for example, look more professional. This ‘ezine’ software is reasonable to set up and has no limit on usage so could be adapted for other activity.

7 Strengths Weaknesses

 Lots of activity  Potential over-focus on internal  Regular methods of comms comms  Established methods including  Need to ensure delivery of existing intranet methods rather than introducing loads more

Opportunities Threats

 Processes can improve efficiency (ie:  Does the organisation ‘buy in’ to the ezine software etc) messages  Disparate organisation makes communications harder

Headline activity for the period to March 2014

 Ongoing close work with the TSOM team to ensure all audiences are informed on time at the right level of detail.  Improving the intranet and Staff News  Develop new all-staff channels such as the screensaver and pop-up messages.  Boost staff morale through activities such as Staff Awards (February 2013), Quality Heroes (Quarterly ceremony) and by celebrating staff and service achievements internally and externally  Carry out research on internal communications to guide improvements in channels

8 External Communications

The communications team should drive the proactive media agenda in line with the corporate objectives.

Communications are the gatekeepers for all media contact by trust staff in the name of CPFT, and lead on the development and dissemination of both proactive and reactive media activity.

Positive media coverage has a positive effect across all audiences, including staff, service users and stakeholders. It is also a key driver of reputation. The communications team needs to build and maintain strong relationships with services across the organisation to ensure a flow of stories (particularly those involving service users).

Negative media has the opposite effect, and the communications team provides support on the preparation for, and response to, inquiries and incidents, as well as handling and minimising the negative impact of all reactive media interest.

The communications team supports external events and campaigns to reduce the stigma and prejudice experienced by people with mental health issues. The benefits of this activity include:

 Creating an open, engaging face for the organisation in the community, challenging perceptions about mental health trusts.  Recruiting members from the wider public who, with appropriate engagement, can develop into candidates for governorship.  By demistifying mental illness and communicating its prevalence, creating an environment where it is easier for service users to meet their recovery goals and re- enter the workforce.

This area has been under-developed in recent years and is a key opportunity area for the Trust.

 Lots of potential great stories  Focus on internal comms means that  Significant number of local media external comms gets ignored across the county  Number of people in communication

 Improve staff morale via positive  Organisation becomes solely reactive recognition to media coverage and doesn’t drive  Engage more staff with the news agenda in any way communications  Build relationships with local journalists

9 Headline activity for the period to March 2014

 Recruit media / press specialist to add to skills within the communications team  Build further, effective relationships with local journalists and researchers to create proactive media opportunities and ensure a fair hearing if a reactive story arises  Increase the profile of key people within the Trust to ensure their status as ‘go-to’ experts on certain issues  Build ongoing, strong relationships with well-funded campaigning organisations such as Time to Change  Proactively seek out positive stories with teams and senior managers, including regular visits to services  Plan proactive stories to capitalise on wider themed ‘awareness days/weeks’ (for Dementia, Depression, etc)  Work wiith external partners to plan World Mental Health Day activities for October 2013

10 Stakeholder communications

Stakeholder engagement is vital to retaining and developing our business; keeping GPs and the new CCGs informed are the immediate priorities in this area, as is communication with governors.

It is also essential to maintain ongoing, relevant and consistent direct communication with other stakeholders, including but not exclusively, MPs and partner chief executives.

Direct, regular communications from the Trust increases knowledge and awareness, builds trust and enables the Trust to give first hand accounts of its work and successes.

The stakeholder programme includes a mix of letters, meetings and escorted visits to CPFT premises.

Work to communicate with GPs and CCGs is led by the Business Development team, but can be well supported by the communications team.

One fo the key issues with communications is over-communicating or issuing contradictory messages. There are currently a number of additional websites outside of the corporate site. This costs money and loses control of messages. These should be integrated into the main site.

 Well established governor and  Tends to be a ‘forgotten’ area business development teams  Is often most time consuming type of communication

 Improve reputation and support from  Stakeholder relations programme key people across the county slips throughout the year as other priorities take over

Headline activity for the period to March 2014:

 Implement the external relations activities as highlighted in the timeline (appendix one)  Work with business development to embed good stakeholder communications in the PMO workbook  Create a stakeholder database for use by the whole corporate team  Liaise with new General Managers to integrate all services into the CPFT website, closing down surplus sites to save money (by end March 2013).  Create overarching stakeholder communications as required , such as a stakeholder newsletter and the Annual Review.  Work with the governor team to develop a clear plan for communicating consistently and proactively with governors and NEDs.

11 Service user communications

Communication with service users is pivotal to their recovery.

The communications team can support this in a number of ways:

 Reference information on the new website – on the Recovery College, self help, individual services, conditions, medications and service user and carer groups, to help people get the most from our services and to help themselves to recover.  Ensuring materials produced by teams are appropriate to their audience and compliant with latest usability guidelines.  Continue to develop the leaflet factory.  Provide advice and assistance to teams, on request, about communicating key changes and issues to service users.

The communications team – dependent on capacity – could also engage in delivering ‘good communication’ courses to those dealing with service users on a daily basis.

Electronic Communications

The Trust operates a website and an intranet, which are referenced in other areas of this strategy.

Throughout 2013, as capacity within the communications team improves, consideration should be given to exploring social media opportunities and their appropriate uses throughout the Trust. As an example, an organisational Facebook profile may not be appropriate or useful, but utilising Facebook, Twitter and Youtube for a specific campaign could significantly increase its impact.

When developing this thinking throughout 2013, techniques must be utilised alongside the provision of guidance for staff on usage and parameters. Staff should not be able to set up any social media presence for the Trust before first consulting with the communications team. It is vital to understand that all communications and libel rules apply on social media as well as in more traditional forms.

This should be a focus are as the Trust is arguably behind in its use of social media techniques and these media are particularly useful for reaching younger audiences.

Branding

The NHS is a widely appreciated guarantee of quality, with spontaneous brand awareness of more than 95%. Therefore, as an NHS organisation, the NHS lozenge is a central component of the Trust’s visual identity, and CPFT follows NHS brand guidelines. The communications team owns and manages the CPFT branding.

The current external branding was developed by the Trust in 2008, and still looks fresh; in the current climate, there is no need to review the branding until 2014-5 unless the name of the Trust were to change.

12 At this stage, there could be scope for expanding the brand to cover key behaviours – such as how to greet and address people in reception or on the phone and even attitudes, such as respect, courtesy, professionalism and a smile. This would not be an immediate priority for the Trust, but provides a point of difference for successful service organisations such as John Lewis, Apple and Virgin.

Evaluation

Evaluation of communications activity is currently ad-hoc and inconsistent and sometimes does not happen at all.

Activity should be evaluated in order that ineffective communications can be stopped and the most effective methods can receive further attention and focus.

Software such as Newsflash can provide quantative analysis of activity. However, pending the arrival of such software, evaluation can include readership levels, engagement levels, feedback and surveys.

The communications team will rpovide regular updates to directors on recent activity, its impact and planned activity. This intelligence should also include information about the ‘temperature’ within and outside of the organisation, in order to help directors make well informed decisions.

Strategy review

This strategy is issued in 2012, and should next be reviewed in January 2014 in order to issue an updated version from April 2014.

This strategy was first drafted by Gordon Harrison and modifed by Caroline Parsons in November / December 2012.