Living by our values: Wandsworth North Locality Nursing Service on taking accountability

The new Trust values are Accountability, Inclusion, Compassion, and Empowerment.  These have been designed by our staff to guide our behaviours, shape care delivery, and help us build trusted relationships with patients, communities, and each other. 

Our values were published in our new Trust Strategy 2025-30 which launched in July 2025 and support our mission to enable thriving communities that give our children the best start in life and adults greater independence.

The value of accountability means taking ownership as an individual and a group for behaviour and for the impact we deliver for our patients, learning from mistakes without placing blame. The Wandsworth North Locality Community Nursing Service demonstrated this value by taking responsibility for improving the way it works together, building morale and respect through collaborative action.

Gemma Gilmore, Clinical Service Manager initiated changes after staff had felt that discussions at handover were challenging, and this was reflected in anonymous feedback shared in the Staff Survey. She approached the Quality Improvement team to see how these discussions could be improved. A Standard Operating Procedure for handovers was developed in collaboration with the team which is now described as supportive and helpful with patient scenarios and upcoming actions discussed in a standardised and respectful way. A Microsoft Teams channel was also developed to enable prompt decision making at Triage which has developed into a forum for supporting one another and sharing relevant experience and expertise. 

This change formed part of a wider piece of work around recognition and respect towards one another in the Wandsworth North Locality, led by Clinical Operations Manager Ruth Kwanga. After Staff Survey results and other forms of feedback showed that morale and recognition needed improving, Ruth initiated a Social and Charter Reflection. This opportunity for the team to connect outside of day to day roles resulted in the development of a Monthly Birthday celebrations, where the team now comes together to celebrate birthdays in the last week of the month, and a Gratitude Tree – which offers the team a space to post notes of tanks and recognition to one another publicly. 

Gemma Gilmore, Clinical Service Manager for Wandsworth Population Health said:

 “The key outputs of this work have been a notable change in culture and staff saying they feel more supported. The fact that staff were involved in and accountable for the improvements to this way of working is key.”