Culture of Care

Culture of Care: Staff Care & Development

A co-produced developmental space for ward staff to explore their therapeutic interactions with patients

Culture of Care: Staff Care & Development

NHS England’s Culture of Care Programme

NHS England’s two-year Culture of Care programme will support organisations to improve the culture of inpatient mental health, learning disability and autism wards across England. It will ensure patients and staff feel wards are safe, therapeutic and equitable places to be cared for, and fulfilling places to work.

A focus on staff care & development 

Staff Care & Development is one of six strands of the Culture of Care programme. It will support inpatient ward staff – from both NHS and independent providers – to develop team cultures and systems so that people on the ward feel safe and cared for. Through site visits and focus groups, reflective practice training and supervision, skills-based training, and coaching, the offer will focus on high-quality relational care, positive informal interactions on the ward, and psychologically safe environments.

Our offer lasts for six months, and we are running 3 cohorts over the next 2 years. The indicative start dates are:

  • Cohort 1: September 2024
  • Cohort 2: Early Spring 2025
  • Cohort 3: Autumn 2025

We will advertise to register new teams prior to the beginning of each cohort.

Please note that the other areas of the Culture of Care programme, delivered by the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health (NCCMH) and the Foundation of Nursing Studies (FONS), are managed separately.

Read more detail about the activities being offered through the Culture of Care: Staff Care & Development programme, and how your ward could get involved.

Learn about our staff support offer

Working with staff to build the Culture of Care standards into everyday culture

Between September 2024 and March 2026, the Staff Care & Development offer will support inpatient services to co-produce effective support for staff on mental health inpatient wards across 60 ward teams across England, through activities that improve culture of care and align to the 12 core commitments in the Culture of Care standards.

Our programme will:

  • Work with mental health care services that provide care to inpatients
  • Provide team learning, coaching, reflective practice and change projects
  • Support cultural change, empower staff to co-produce and deliver change ideas, and build capacity for wards to improve culture independently
  • Incorporate Lived Experience input at all levels
  • Share and disseminate good practice and learning coming out of the programme

Find out more about the experience of ward teams participating in the programme, and browse free tools and resources for co-producing cultural change.

Read updates and access free resources
Culture of Care partner logos.

The Staff Care & Development Team

Our team comprises a diverse group of individuals from a range of expert organisations, including lived experience practitioners, former frontline staff, expert advisors and professionals with expertise in quality improvement and transformation in mental health services.

Together, we offer combined experience and expertise in coaching and mentoring organisations and individuals through continuous improvement, change and transformation.

We work closely and collaboratively with leaders and teams to solve complex challenges, and deliver on-the-ground co-produced change across health and care organisations.

"The PSC is a specialist management consultancy which exists to make public services brilliant, working with senior healthcare leaders to effect lasting change across the UK over the last 18 years."


The Public Service Consultants

"VMI is an internationally-recognised leader in healthcare improvement and leadership development to support organisations achieve sustained excellence in patient experience and clinical quality."


The Virginia Mason Institute

"David Gilbert, founder of InHealth Associates, is an expert in putting co-production and patient leadership at the centre of service and organisational transformation."


InHealth Associates

"ImROC has worked with communities across UK and international healthcare, social care, and voluntary services since 2007, developing services, systems and cultures that support Recovery and wellbeing. Originally created by the NHS, IMROC is now an independent consultancy and training organisation, renowned for its recovery-focused values, evidence base, and extensive global network."


ImROC

"IGA is a leading psychotherapy training organisation which specialises in understanding and working with group dynamics and processes. It offers rigorous and practice-based training in conducting reflective practice groups in organisations."


The Institute of Group Analysis

Get in touch

Find out more about the programme and how you can get involved - we would love to hear from you.

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