Barbara’s Story

Eileen Sills, CBE

Chief Nurse & Director of Patient Experience

January 2014

• How do you successfully get 13,200 staff to think differently about caring for older people and those with dementia?

• You certainly don't do it in the traditional way

• You 'pull on the heart strings' of the organisation

• You tell it from the voice of a patient

• But you can’t put one patient in front of 13,200 staff…

You create a film, so simple but so powerful - you create a drama

Images – Sarah Bickford

• September 2012 we launched the film and we made it mandatory for all to attend

• Only a small number of staff ran the sessions to ensure consistency

• The film is a short 10 minute film followed by a 45 minute session pulling the film apart and getting staff to think about there own behaviours and the impact it can have

• To date we have trained 13,000 staff plus many more staff externally

The initial impact

• Due to its simplicity many found themselves becoming very emotional

• The whole organisation just began to talk about Barbara's Story

• Everybody wanted to be part of it, we didn't have to chase staff to attend

• We identified staff who needed help in their personal lives

Evaluation

• Formal evaluation led by London South Bank University

• 1240 staff sent written comments & 67 staff participated in 10 focus groups

• 6 themes emerged from the written comments– Personal reflections on the film– What I will do in my personal life– What I will do in my professional life– What the organisation should do (general comments and training)– What others should do– Other comments

• Most comments related to what staff would do in their professional lives

Findings

• Raised awareness of the needs of older people and those with a dementia

• Evidence of staff doing things differently

• Prompted staff to think more broadly rather then just in their own silo

• Evidence of a culture change, making the Trust values real

• Evidence that staff felt more able to give more time and supported to give more time

• Specific examples of how to do things differently and suggestions for the future

Next steps

• First episode funded by the Burdett Trust into a training package free to anyone who wants it

• Training packages so far have been sent to;

• Australia

• Canada

• Denmark

• Japan

• Germany

• Sweden

• USA

Six more episodes filmed, tracking her journey as her health changes

• After 33 years in the NHS

• I feel I have done something worthwhile that will have a lasting impact

• Thank you!