Quality and safety score high in People First Survey
Dr. David Ostrow, President & CEO
At VCH we are deeply invested and engaged in quality and safety—that’s what I see in the 2013 People First Survey (Gallup) results. More on that in a second, but first I want to thank those of you who took the time to complete the survey back in June. Thank you for your honest answers to the survey questions. Thank you for caring.
It’s clearly a time of great challenge for us at VCH. We have budget pressures and growing demand on services. Priority setting and restructuring affect jobs, and when you’re worried about your colleagues and perhaps yourself, it’s natural to become “disengaged” from the organization. We wouldn’t be compassionate people if this wasn’t the case. But as the head of VCH, it’s my job to keep us moving forward and to support our people in providing essential health care services, even when times are tough. One of the ways we do that is to check in regularly, to ask employees how they’re doing and to listen to their responses, even when we know the answers might not be what we want to hear.
So when I consider everything that’s happened over the past year–and everything that continues to unfold as we work diligently to meet our financial obligations–I must admit that I find this year’s survey results reassuring. You can view the complete report by following the link at the bottom of this page, but here is what I see as the highlights:
Highlights of the results
- Our accountability number is higher than the BC health authority average. This reflects the excellent work that has been done using the results of the last survey. In other words, people used their results from the 2011 survey to effect tangible, positive changes. I’m very proud of this achievement.
- Our scores on all five of the safety questions common to all health authorities were also higher than the BC average.
- Some of our highest scores on the survey were related to your feeling that safety is a priority at work, as well as your being comfortable speaking up about safety and knowing how to report a concern.
- And last but not least, our overall engagement score actually went up! Okay, it only went up by .01 but considering the challenging environment, I think it’s a credit to all of you that you remain engaged in the important work you do.
What’s next?
I believe the real value in this survey is in how each department or team uses their results to action-plan for changes and improvements. These may be improvements to quality of care or service, or improvements to quality of work life for staff. The People First Survey is one of many tools that we can use for innovating for sustainability, improving quality of care, and building the best workforce.
Directors and managers will be receiving results for their programs and departments September 30. October and November will be a planning period when managers share and discuss results with staff and participating physicians. By the end of November you will have the opportunity to work with your peers and create action plans related to the survey information.
I encourage you to get involved in discussing the survey results for your area and participate fully in the action planning. On behalf of the senior executive team, thank you for your commitment to making VCH a better place to work and to creating a better care environment for those we serve.
Dr. David Ostrow
President and CEO
Related links:
- 2013 People First Survey results page on VCH Connect
- VCH overall survey results (full report)
- VCH overall survey results by statement type
- Action planning information and resources for Directors/Managers and Physician Leads on VCH Connect
See what some staff did with the 2011 results