Communications Plan to support TCS

Communications Plan

Supporting integration following the transfer of provider services from NHS Devon to Northern Devon Healthcare Trust

Version No: 1 (draft) Issue Date: 16/03/11

Version No: 1 Page 1 of 15 Date: 16 March 2011 Author: Katherine Allen, Head of Communications

Communications Plan to support TCS

Contents

Introduction 3

1. Aims and Objectives 3

2. Key Messages 3

 Corporate overview

 TCS corporate messages

3. Existing Trust communications methods 4

 Internal

 Websites

 Stakeholder

 Media

4. Dedicated change management communication activity (staff) 6

5. Key communications partnerships 7

6. Monitoring success 7

7. Branding 7

8. The proposed structure of the Communications Department 8

9. Summary of actions 10

10. Appendix A: Media list 11

11. Appendix B: Stakeholder list 12

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Communications Plan to support TCS

Introduction

Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust has a proven record of managing significant organisational change. We will build on our previous experience of establishing an integrated NHS Trust in ensuring the successful transition of community services into the Trust's organisational structure, culture, systems and processes.

This communications plan describes the resources, methods and activities which will be deployed by the Communications Dept of NDHT following the transfer of NHS community provider services from NHS Devon to Northern Devon Healthcare Trust.

An unresponsive communications plan will not meet the needs of the organisation going forward. The effectiveness of the plan relies on ‘intelligence’ from the senior team and staff feedback to ensure that we meet the needs of the audience and communicate the right message.

Failure to respond accordingly may lead to loss of reputation, staff confusion and stakeholder disengagement.

Note: The standard reference to the new services will be to Exeter, Mid Devon and East Devon; or, collectively, to Eastern Devon, echoing the geographical reference in the NDHT name ('Northern').

1. Aims and Objectives

The aim of the plan is to quickly establish two-way systems of internal and external communications between staff, executive team and stakeholders.

The objectives of the plan are to: - Protect and enhance the reputation of NDHT - Ensure that new staff rapidly become integral, and feel integral, to the Trust - Ensure patients are able to clearly identify which Trust provides the services at any given base and know how to contact the organisation responsible for the service - Ensure staff are able to clearly identify which Trust provides the services at any given base and know how to make contact with relevant personnel within the Trust - Support new staff by providing easy routes to information and communication - Mitigate service disruption risks of staff without access to policies and unfamiliarity with back office functions (SFIs, procurement, estates, HR etc) - Establish positive media relations - Build relationships with stakeholders such as GPs, community groups

A full list of known media contacts and stakeholders is contained in appendices A and B, respectively.

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Communications Plan to support TCS

2. Key messages

The messages of the communications plan depend on the audience and medium used. However generic messages or themes are as follows:

Corporate overview: - 750 beds, 250 of which are community - We employ 3800 staff, 2000 of whom work in the provision of community health and social care services - We run services in 17 Community Hospitals - Our integrated health and social care services are run by XX clusters - The Trust now serves a population of 484,000

TCS corporate messages:

The corporate messages are an extrapolation of the Trust’s vision and values and will influence and guide all media responses and external/internal communication.

Over time, the messages will change and adapt according to the needs of each audience.

 This is all about sustaining and improving care for patients  Management arrangements are secondary  NDHT has a proven track record in integrating and running community services  Safety and quality are our top priorities  We are one of the top-performing trusts in the South West, according to a range of measures  We have designed services which keep patients cared for safely at home, as well as in hospital

External messages:

Eastern Devon  We will build on existing community services to improve care for patients across Eastern Devon  We will work with local communities, patients and councillors to improve services  We will continue to work closely with other trusts to smooth the flow of patients from acute hospitals and to avoid unnecessary admissions  We will aim to provide more care closer to home

Northern Devon The integration will not affect local patients – it's business as usual

3. Existing Trust communications methods

The Trust’s communications strategy contains a full outline of communication methods. For the purposes of this plan, we have expanded on the tactics which satisfy the aims of

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Communications Plan to support TCS

quickly assimilating the transferring staff under the Trust’s existing communication vehicles.

Since January 2011, the Trust’s internal communication materials have been shared and run in parallel with Devon Provider Service’s.

From 1 April 2011, we envisage the following:

Internal

- Chief Executive Bulletin: produced weekly and circulated to all staff with messages and decisions from the Executive Director meeting every Wednesday. This replaces the Provider Development newsletter - Pulse: the bi-monthly newsletter will contain messages from Exeter, east and mid Devon from April. (This replaces Healthy Life) - Communications Champions/Ambassadors: The geographic spread of the Trust and the rurality of some areas do pose challenges for effective communications. In order to ensure appropriate targeting and the strong penetration of communications activity the Communications Dept will establish Communications Champions within selected areas of the Trust. These staff members will enable the Dept to gather information regarding effectiveness of communications activity and staff engagement and respond accordingly through focused differentiation of methods/language. - Welcome leaflet: A leaflet is in production with Trust at a glance stats and information. - Welcome DVD: The communications department has organised for the Trust Chair to record a welcome message (via DVD) which will be launched on 1 April to mark the transfer of staff and services. - TV screens: In May, we hope to install TV screens in every waiting area in NDDH. These will allow us to broadcast positive messages and information about the Trust. Over time and following evaluation, we would consider extending this service to the community hospitals.

Websites - Intranet: by April, the two intranets will be merged and all transferring staff asked to access Bob. There is a TCS area on the intranet which will contain useful information to help new staff navigate their way around their new employing organisation: o order medical equipment o order materials/consumables o timesheets / payroll paperwork o incident reports o ask the execs a question o find a policy Version N o: 1 Page 5 of 15 Date: 16 March 2011 Author: Katherine Allen, Head of Communications

Communications Plan to support TCS

o expense claim o translation and interpretation o patient leaflets o organisation charts – and, in time, a staff directory

- As well as being a platform for sharing news and information regarding the changes, the Trust has the ability to conduct and analyse comprehensive and accessible surveys, feedback gathering. Online engagement will be a central plank of engagement gathering given the geographical diversity of the area. - Website: The web pages on Our Services (east and north Devon, acute and community) have already been created with contact details and locations of each service provided by the Trust. - Facebook/Twitter: The Trust will use Facebook and Twitter with good effect to engage with the population.

Stakeholder A full list of stakeholders is contained in the appendices. In particular, this plan would focus on the following activities: - IPSG: The Trust would hope to establish an Involving People Steering Group in eastern Devon to ensure that local groups and individuals have a voice in developing and influencing service change. We understand that there are currently no formal PPI processes in eastern Devon - Community meetings/forums: Where possible, the Care Trust would seek to utilise existing community forums with a proven track record of attendance and engagement. - LINk: the working agreement with LINks would be extended to cover Exeter, east and mid Devon - Town Councils: In rural areas, town council’s can play an absolutely key role in maintaining community cohesion, establishing community identity, and representing the opinions and attitudes of the community. The Trust would look to foster positive relationships with these council’s and benefit from their experience and knowledge of local communities. This may include providing regular update newsletters to council clerks. - OSCs & Council Cabinets: It is vital to have open and transparent relationships with Overview and Scrutiny Committees and Council Cabinets. The Communications Dept will facilitate and support open and timely engagement with the OSCs both during and after the transfer of provider services. - MPs: The number of MPs falling within our catchment has now increased. The Trust would look to foster good relations with members of parliament of all colours by a programme of regular correspondence and meetings. - Patients: The web pages have been established and updating will be continuous from now on. There is very little mapping of patient information across the transferring services. Whilst we complete an assessment of what information is Version No: 1 Page 6 of 15 Date: 16 March 2011 Author: Katherine Allen, Head of Communications

Communications Plan to support TCS

required, the communications department will distribute the most commonly used leaflets (PALS, complaints, tell us what you think, language line and leaving hospital, for example) to each community hospital to arrive by the first week in April. TCS patient leaflets will be aligned over time, and in priority order, to ensure that all Trust patients receive the same advice. - GP commissioners: The Trust will seek to engage with the local consortia as they form, especially given the growing importance of caring for patients in the community rather than in hospital.

Media A full list of media contacts is contained in the appendices. The Trust recognises the high media interest which will be generated from TCS developments which will increase exponentially toward year end, and the potential mutual benefit which can be achieved by working closely and productively with media outlets (particularly North Devon Journal, Gazette, Sidmouth Herald, Exmouth Journal, Mid Deon Gazette, Express & Echo, WMN, Heart FM, Palm FM, local BBC and other local weeklies). - The Communications Dept will directly contact the newsdesks of those organisations covering Exeter, east and mid Devon in order to establish strong links. - The new communications managers are aligned to the Eastern and Northern areas, with the aim of fostering strong relations both with the media and with staff on the ground. This will help the Trust generate coverage both in the media and for internal publications, and handle incoming queries efficiently.

4. Dedicated change management communication activity (staff)

Immediately preceding and following the transfer, there are number of core resources and activities which the Communications Dept will seek to coordinate. These include:

- Weekly, targeted correspondence from Chief Executive/s: Generated by the Communications Dept, the Chief Executive Bulletin will keep the standing item of TCS each week to cover those issues relating to the transfer of staff and services. - Manager briefings: The Trust operates a monthly HODs meeting to which all heads of department will be invited. It is envisaged that the venue of these meetings will be varied or run in parallel to ensure every head of department gets the opportunity to hear corporate news first hand. - Intranets and Extranets: Online communications resources will be used to engage audiences whose location makes direct contact less frequent. - Vodcast/Podcast: The Communications Team is working with the IT Dept to identify the potential for video and/or audio blogs to be posted online and/or distributed on the Intranet to provide good levels of staff awareness, reassurance and ‘buy-in’.

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Communications Plan to support TCS

- Direct Chief Executive messaging: An email inbox ‘advertised’ to all staff and monitored by the Communications Dept. Provides all staff with the opportunity to anonymously direct questions of the Chief Executive and senior team, with emails used to create themes to guide the communications listed above.

NB Some of the above activities/resources require implementation of certain IT solutions which are outside the gift of the Communications Department.

5. Key communications partnerships

It is vital for the reputation of all agencies involved, and the confidence of the public, to ensure consistency in communications. This will require ongoing and regular liaison between the communications teams within key partners. The Communications Dept at NDHT will suggest the creation of a small network consisting of the teams within the following partners to enable consistency and efficiency.

- Torbay Care Trust - RD&E - NHS Devon (Commissioner) - Devon County Council (adult social care) - PHT - DPT - GP commissioners

6. Monitoring success

The requirements of staff groups in relation to communication will differ, depending upon experience, role and location. In order to facilitate the development of good communications the Communications Dept will conduct internal annual surveys to gauge the effectiveness of the service and to identify opportunities for improvement.

The survey will be conducted via online, email and hardcopy methods and results will provide the basis for the development of the internal Communications Plan. Questions will be design to reflect and augment those asked in the annual staff survey run by the CQC.

The ongoing feedback from communications champions across the community services will enable the Trust to be responsive at all times; it will not simply be a question of waiting for annual survey results.

With the guidance of the PPI (and membership) leads, surveys will also be carried out within public groups to gauge key indicators regarding the performance of communications, i.e. access to information.

NB: The measures suggested in this Plan have also been aligned with the guidance in Dial M for Merger, by the Audit Commission.

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Communications Plan to support TCS

7. Branding

It is important that staff and patients know which organisation is accountable for the services provided at each site.

The organisation created by the transfer of provider services to NDHT requires a distinct identity. This requirement is particularly important now that the transferring services have been awarded on the basis of a three-year contract.

The Trust has already taken steps to design an amended corporate logo.

In addition, the following actions are being pursued: - Conversion and distribution of key leaflets, such as PALS, complaints, bedside booklet, infection control, discharge, with new branding - Creation of letter head, minutes, presentation and logo templates on the Intranet - The facilities team will be amending the hospital signs to read just ‘Okehampton Hospital, NHS’ removing reference to NHS Devon - The communications team will work with the Corporate Affairs team to ensure we have a system of replacing all corporate materials, such as Violence and Aggression signed statements - Staff email – we will be asking all staff to change their email signatures and voicemail messages to ensure they reflect the new Trust, using a template to generate consistent style

In time – and probably as part of the Foundation Trust application - the Trust will look at changing the Trust’s name and logo, the website url (currently Northern Devon Healthcare Trust) and the name of the Intranet (currently Tarkanet, suggested replacement is Bob) as they are all exclusive to North Devon.

If the rebranding were to be completely thorough, staff email addresses would also be addressed to remove reference to Northern Devon.

8. The proposed structure of the Communications Department

At this point (10.03.11) and along with the rest of the organisational structures, the team structure for communications provision has yet to be confirmed. However, the draft structure is as follows:

However, certain principles are proposed: - Scope: The scope of the Communications Team would be largely in-line with the Communications Strategy of the Northern Devon Healthcare Trust. The strategy will be revised in 2011, but sets out the core responsibilities of the department, including management of the press office, marketing, coordination of NHS communications during major incidents, ministerial briefings and visits, online editorial content, reputation management and communications guidance for the

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Communications Plan to support TCS

Board. The scope of the function will be developed accordingly depending on existing successful communications methods currently employed in DPS, but will not be diminished from that currently employed within NDHT. - Base: The central office for the Communications Team would be based within NDHT’s existing headquarters at NDDH. We have also asked for a desk in the airport offices to be reserved for communications, at least 3-days per week. The Communications Manager (east) and Head of Communications will ensure this desk is used to provide visibility and a responsive communications service to the organisation - Structure: The current proposal for the communications structure is on the previous page. o Not yet reflected in this structure is the capacity for communications support to the Health Promotion service. At the time of writing the funding and exact requirements for comms were unknown. o This chart does not include potential provision of communications support to the GP Commissioning Consortia, which was mooted some months previously

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Communications Plan to support TCS

Head of Communications (Trust-wide) Glen Everton Fundraising Communications Manager support (Currently North (Trust-wide) only)

Membership Website Design Officer Communications Communications Manager PPI Manager (Trust-wide) Manager (Trust-wide) Manager Manager (Trust-wide) (Trust-wide) 0.5WTE (East) (North)

Membership / Design Officer PPI Officer (Trust-wide) (East) Vacancy Vacancy 1WTE 0.5WTE

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Business Case Fundraising and FT database project

9. Summary of actions

Date Activity Audience

March 2011 Logo strapline All Last Provider Development DPS staff only Last Healthy Lives DPS staff only March 2011 Pulse All staff Chief Executive Bulletin All staff Draft welcome leaflet DPS staff (all staff) Key leaflets distributed to all sites with logos All staff and correct contact details (complaints, PALS, leaving hospital etc) Welcome DVD with Roger French – 24 March DPS staff (all staff) Branding to procurement, corporate affairs, All staff facilities, recruitment and all PAs to ensure headed paper, name badges etc are all changed NHS service directory, NHS Choices all Internal informed of change of management details Website – all relevant content and service Public details transferred to www.northdevonhealth.nhs.uk March-April Intranet – merge content, create a TCS section DPS staff (all staff) for all transferring staff with how to guides Social media – establish corporate social Stakeholders, staff and public media presence April Letter introducing Trust to all stakeholders, incl Stakeholders OSC, MPs, Cllrs and LINk Letter/press release introducing Trust to all Media media, incl parish newsletters Promotion of All staff [email protected] Ongoing handling of all media enquiries Media April-July Series of staff meetings – feedback will All staff / media influence next steps for the communications plan June-July Establish a IPSG and LPEG in eastern Devon Stakeholders and public October Staff survey to assess effectiveness of All staff communications

Page 1 of 15 Version No: 1 Date: 10 March 2011 Author: Katherine Allen, Head of Communications, Ian Roome, Fundraising Manager and Karen Sandwell, Assistant Director of Finance Business Case Fundraising and FT database project

APPENDIX A MEDIA CONTACTS

NEWSPAPERS

Northern area

North Devon Journal. Weekly paid for title. Four editions covering Barnstaple, Bideford, Ilfracombe, Holsworthy. (Northcliffe) North Devon Gazette. Weekly free title. (Archant)

Eastern area

Sidmouth Herald Weekly, paid for title (inc Ottery St Mary edition) (Archant) Exmouth Journal Weekly, paid for title (inc Budleigh Salterton edition) (Archant) Mid Devon Gazette Weekly, paid for title (3 editions inc Crediton Gazette) (Archant) Okehampton Times Weekly, paid for title. (Tindle) Pulmans Weekly News Weekly paid for title for Axminster (Tindle) Crediton Country Courier (Tindle) Mid Devon Advertiser Weekly paid for title covers Mortonhampstead. (Tindle)

Midweek Herald Weekly free title. 3 editions (Honiton, Axminster and Sidmouth). (Archant) Exmouth Herald Weekly, free title (Archant) Mid Devon Star Weekly, free title covers Crediton and Tiverton (Newsquest)

Exeter Express and Echo. Daily, paid for title. (inc Budleigh editon) (Northcliffe)

Regional newspapers

Western Morning News. Daily, paid for title (Northcliffe)

Radio BBC Radio Devon Heart Exeter FM Voice FM

TV BBC Spotlight ITV The West Country Tonight

Other publishing

There are town and parish magazines/newspapers produced in most towns. Some of these are paid for, some free titles, but readership is generally high and they are an effective communications vehicle. (eg South Molton News, Okehampton Life). Also county magazines (Devon Life, Devon Today)

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APPENDIX B STAKEHOLDERS

MPs

Mr Nick Harvey – North Devon (Liberal Democrat) Mr Geoffrey Cox – Torridge and West Devon (Conservative) Mr Mel Stride – Central Devon (Conservative) Mr Ben Bradshaw – Exeter (Labour) Mr Hugo Swire – East Devon (Conservative) Mrs Angela Browning – Tiverton and Honiton (Conservative)

Health Stakeholders

GP Consortia covering North, East and Mid Devon. To date consortia covering the area have not formally emerged, but we will continue engagement

(The four pathfinders for NHS South West are Baywide GP Consortia, Torbay; Sentinel HealthCare South West CiC, Plymouth; WyvernHealth GP Consortia, Somerset; South Gloucestershire GP Consortium).

Department of Health Strategic Health Authority NHS Devon GP Practices RD&E Plymouth Hospitals Trust Torbay Care Trust SWAST Devon Partnership Trust Musgrove Park

Local Authorities - OSCs & Council Cabinets

It is vital to have open and transparent relationships with Overview and Scrutiny Committees and Council Cabinets. The Communications Dept will facilitate and support open and timely engagement with the OSCs both during and after the transfer of provider services.

The following authorities cover the new area of the Northern Devon Healthcare Trust from 1st April 2011:

Devon County Council North Devon Council (Lynton, Ilfracombe, Barnstaple, South Molton) Torridge District Council (Bideford and Torrington) West Devon Borough Council (Holsworthy, Okehampton, Moretonhampstead) East Devon District Council (Honiton, Axminster, Ottery St Mary, Seaton, Sidmouth, Budleigh Salterton, Exmouth) Mid Devon District Council (Tiverton, Crediton) Exeter City Council (Whipton)

Town / Parish Councils In rural areas, town / parish council’s can play an absolutely key role in maintaining community cohesion, establishing community identity, and representing the opinions and attitudes of the community. The Trust would look to foster positive relationships with these council’s and benefit

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from their experience and knowledge of local communities. This may include providing regular update newsletters to council clerks. Patients

IPSG: The Trust would hope to establish an Involving People Steering Group in eastern Devon to ensure that local groups and individuals have a voice in developing and influencing service change. We understand there are currently no formal PPI Processes in eastern Devon

LINk: The working agreement with LINks would be extended to cover Exeter, East and mid Devon.

Community meetings/forums: Where possible, the Trust would seek to utilise existing community forums with a proven track record of attendance and engagement.

League of Friends All community hospitals transferring to Northern Devon Healthcare Trust have a League of Friends and we will engage with them.

Hospices / Health Charities Eg local hospices, Macmillan etc.

Page 4 of 15 Version No: 1 Date: 10 March 2011 Author: Katherine Allen, Head of Communications, Ian Roome, Fundraising Manager and Karen Sandwell, Assistant Director of Finance