Staff support

We have support in place to help any colleague when they’re not feeling OK, now and in the future. These include:

Staff Advice and Liaison Service (SALS) 

Alder Hey runs an award-winning, clinically lead, Staff Advice and Liaison Service (SALS), an open access listening service available to all staff and learners at Alder Hey. The service has been developed and is delivered by Alder Hey staff for Alder Hey staff and is underpinned by the principles of person-centred compassionate care, whereby staff are provided with the experience of being listened to, understood, empowered, and supported to take intelligent action. It’s OK not to be OK.

Alder Centre

The Alder Centre provides an in-house counselling service to any member of Alder Hey staff. This may be related to bereavement but, we also offer support around work and non-work-related issues like stress, anxiety, depression, and relationship problems. Referrals for the Alder Centre can be accessed through SALS.

Cheshire and Merseyside Resilience Hub

The Cheshire & Merseyside Resilience Hub also offer all NHS, Social Care and Emergency Service staff within the region access to the right support, information, and confidential psychological interventions they need.

Schwartz Round

Schwartz Rounds are a structured forum where all staff, clinical and non-clinical, come together regularly to discuss the emotional and social aspects of working in healthcare.

In practice what that means is they are set aside times for staff from all over Alder Hey to come together and hear stories from different colleagues about their experiences of working here. They normally take place once every two months.

Grouped around a central theme, the rounds help us understand each other a little better, seeing from different points of view the things we all do here for our children and young people.

Underscoring our Schwartz Rounds is the idea that the compassion shown by staff can make all the difference to our children and young people’s experience of care, but that in order to provide compassionate care staff must, in turn, feel supported in their work.

Spiritual Care Team

The spiritual care team and are a multifaith team based at the heart of the hospital, who are able to support our staff as much as our patients and families.

Trade Unions

At Alder Hey we’re committed to working with staff side (trade unions) colleagues, with the following Trade Union/Professional Bodies recognised and represented at Alder Hey:

• British Dental Association
• British Dietetic Association
• British Medical Association
• British & Irish Orthoptic Association
• Chartered Society of Physiotherapy
• Federation of Clinical Scientists
• General Municipal and Boilermakers Association
• Royal College of Nursing
• Society of Radiographers
• UNISON (including MIP and BAOT)
• Unite (including Guild of Pharmacy)

Trade unions and management colleagues meet regularly and formally to discuss, debate, and resolve important issues.

Freedom to Speak Up (FTSU)

We also actively engage in the NHS England-wide Freedom to Speak Up (FTSU) programme. We know that an open and responsive raising concerns culture, where all of our staff feel confident to speak up when things go wrong, is a huge part of what makes Alder Hey the caring organisation it is, every day. The programme is run by FTSU champions, led by a Guardian, who acts as a local guide for advice and as a sounding board for any concerns staff may have.