The SHaWL network was created with support from Hospice UK to provide a strategic HR voice and advance the role of HR within hospice and palliative care.
Find out about its history, aims, work streams, Executive members and dates of upcoming meetings.
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Conference: Hospice Career Pathways - the roads less travelled
A joint conference with Hospice UK, the Executive Clinical Leaders Group (ECLiHP) and Strategic HR and Workforce Leads Group (ShaWL), that took place on 25 April 2023.
Workforce planning and development are critical strategic challenges common to all hospices, and we must ensure that we are able to continue to meet growing demand for services and the changing nature of that demand in the future. We know this from our own daily experiences and from the findings of the Commission into Hospice Care.
The capacity and capability of HR to deliver day-to-day workforce needs as well as to meet the future workforce challenges varies hugely across the Hospice sector. We know this from surveys and discussion groups undertaken with Hospice UK and HR leaders.
We therefore face a dual challenge. Firstly, to look at the national strategic direction of the workforce fit for the future; and secondly, to ensure the most effective HR capability to build and support this workforce at a regional and local level.
You can read more about the background of the national focus on workforce below.
Aims
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SHaWL was created with support from Hospice UK to:
Provide a strategic and HR voice within the field of hospice and palliative care.
Advance the role of HR within hospice and palliative care
Work with ECLiHP (Executive Clinical Leads in Hospice and Palliative Care) and NHEC (National Hospice Education Collaborative) colleagues and any other relevant group to support workforce planning and development
Provide a clear voice relating to workforce perspectives of service, planning and delivery, and engaging in constructive lobbying as necessary.
Be a key reference point for hospice and palliative care colleagues on strategic HR issues, workforce planning and development
Provide support in developing HR and other leaders in the hospice and palliative care sector
The Commission into Hospice Care was published in October 2013. It raised concerns about where we are and how we build the workforce needed to deliver hospice care in the future. This stimulated conversation and debate. A number of people from the sector contacted Hospice UK regarding their interest in exploring these concerns further.
Hospice UK held a meeting to explore with those people to look at what could be done on a national and strategic level. The meeting comprised a number of HR leads from Hospices including Emma Hodges, Lisa Nos, Matt Corbishley, Jaci Curtis Donnelly as well as the ECLiHP Chair Judith Park; the independent workforce expert Keith Hurst and Hospice UK staff Heather Richardson, Jean Hindmarch and Marie Cooper.
Through informal feedback from Hospice HR leads it is apparent there is varying access to peer support and networking in May 2015 a UK-wide survey was undertaken to test the proposal of building more structured support at national level.
33% of hospice HR leads responded and of those 75% had access to a regional group.
There was, however, overwhelming support for the building of more regional networks and the establishment of more national support and resource.
The HR leads surveyed also called for a programme of annual events and masterclasses which would address emerging and topical HR related issues.
To deliver these aims, we draw on existing expertise within the sector and the wider HR network.
This will cover work and activity such as:
Looking at what national and strategic activity needs to be developed to address the workforce challenges that hospice care faces now and in the future
Developing or reinforcing the regional HR networks and ensuring an effective link across networks and between each region and the national group
Building the case for effective, strategic HR and develop the models and competencies needed to best deliver workforce solutions
Identifying, promoting or developing tools and sources of expertise and good practice
Facilitating networking, coaching, peer support and learning tools, sessions or masterclasses
Establishing work streams (March 2017)
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SHaWL established seven work streams on 3 March 2017 to work on ahead of the subsequent meeting. Three of these were joint projects with ECiHP.
They are:
SHaWL workstreams
Mentoring programme for the Hospice HR community (Leads: Davina, Jaci and Jane)
HR in the hospice (Leads: Alan, Lisa)
HR: strategic thinking and beyond the hospice (Leads: Deborah, Gillian, Matt)
Steps Ahead and support for Carers (Leads: Annette, Matt)
Work streams agreed in joint session with ECLiHP
Data for workforce and patients (Leads: Alan, Davina, Jaci, Jane plus a request to any others to register interest)
Strategic Workforce Planning (Leads: Matt plus TBC)
Leadership and management (Leads: Emma, Jaci, Annette plus a request to any others to register interest-Annette, Julie Huttley (ECLiHP)
The networks also recommended national projects around recruitment to the sector (including the Employee Value Proposition) and Planning for the future-the new models needed for hospice care and the core skills for the workforce, which are currently being explored at Hospice UK.
Executive group
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Within the SHaWL terms of reference (as with ECLiHP and the Hospice UK Advisory Council) the regional representative is voted on to the Executive by local regional members.
However, as we are only aware of four established HR regional networks it was important to launch the network regardless of the geographical spread, and support its incremental growth over time.
to grow strong supportive collegial relationships within their region, developing areas of expertise and regional interests
to build up the existing HR networks or develop new ones
to ensure there is clear engagement between local and national levels
to ensure the direction of the work programme determined by the Exec is informed by regional issues which would benefit from national attention.
The ultimate aim is for the Executive group to guide and engage at a national level a wider network of HR and workforce expertise to meet the stated aims around HR capability and workforce development.
As the work programme develops there will be a need to reach out to those who have specialist interest or skills that can support in the delivery of planned activity. More communication on this will follow as the work programme planning develops.
Download a list of members (updated September 2022).
Communication and engagement
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The key link is the communication between the representatives of the group and the regional HR networks.
There is a dedicated webpage on the Hospice UK website and the group will use Hospice UK’s social media channels, and other channels as appropriate.
‘Looking Back - Looking Forward: lessons learned from testing times to shape future wellbeing and recovery’ was a joint online conference with ECLiHP and SHaWL. It took place on Wednesday 7 July 2021.
