HCA Healthcare UK – LOC CQC Booklet

Your Working Environment
• Bullying of another employee, including physical or verbal assault, or violence towards an employee except in self-defence.
• Causing loss, damage or injury through gross negligence, serious incompetence or dereliction of duties.
• Serious misuse of information technology and systems, including unauthorised use of email and unauthorised entry to computer records.
• Breach of any applicable professional codes of conduct. Serious acts which break the mutual trust and confidence or which brings or is likely to bring the Company into disrepute.
• Giving false information as to qualifications.
• Sleeping on duty.
• Victimisation of a whistleblower.
• Making untrue allegations in bad faith against a colleague.
• Inappropriate use of social networking sites that may include posting statements or personal opinions about the Company, its business, customers, patients, service-users or another employee.
• Conviction of a criminal offence that in the company’s opinion may affect their reputation or its relationships with its employees, patients or the public,
or otherwise affects the employee’s suitability to continue working for the company.
For full details of the Disciplinary Procedure, please refer to the HCA UK Disciplinary Policy.
Grievance Policy
The grievance procedure is designed to allow you to raise any concerns that you may have, either formally or informally. You should initially discuss any grievance with your Line Manager to try and resolve the problem informally where possible. If the grievance relates to your immediate Line Manager,
you can discuss it with their Line Manager or the HR department.
Where it is not possible to resolve a grievance by informal discussion or mediation,
the formal procedure should be followed.
In order to do this, you should put your grievance in writing to your Line Manager or their Line Manager/HR department, setting out the reasons for your grievance and the outcome you are seeking.
For full details of the grievance procedure, please refer to the HCA UK Grievance Policy.
For further support and advice during the Grievance or Disciplinary process please access the Employee Assistance Programme. You can call the Employee Assistance Programme free on 0800 328 1437, quoting HCA, alternatively you can access online support via www.employeeassistance.org.uk
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Your Working Environment
Equality and Diversity at Work
HCA Healthcare UK is committed to promoting equality of opportunity for all colleagues, job applicants, service-users, visitors, suppliers, and customers. Our aim is that all colleagues, service-users and customers are treated with dignity and respect, and are not subject to any form of discrimination, harassment, victimisation, or bullying.
The Company is fully committed to
the elimination of unlawful and unfair discrimination, and values the advantages that a diverse workforce brings to the organisation. The company will not discriminate on the basis of age, disability, gender reassignment, marital or civil partner status, pregnancy or maternity, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin,
religion or belief, sex/sexual orientation (‘protected characteristics’).
The principles of non-discrimination and equality of opportunity also apply to the way in which colleagues treat service-users, visitors, clients, customers, and suppliers.
All colleagues of HCA Healthcare UK are responsible for upholding this commitment to diversity and fair treatment through their behaviour in all aspects of their work, and if they breach the Diversity and Inclusion Policy, they may be subject to disciplinary action.
In addition, under the Equality Act 2010, employees need to be aware that they may be held personally liable as well as, or instead of, the Company, for any act of unlawful discrimination. Colleagues who commit serious acts of harassment may be committing a criminal offence.
HCA Healthcare UK welcomes the diversity of religious belief represented by our workforce, and aims to create an environment where the cultural, religious, and non-religious beliefs of all its employees are respected.
For more information in this regard, please refer to our Diversity and Inclusion Policy.
Governance and Policy
It is everyone’s responsibility to ensure we provide a quality service to all. Clinical quality improvement is fundamental to ensuring that the care we provide our customers
and patients is evidence based, of a high standard, and promotes excellent patient outcomes. As such there is a Clinical Quality Improvement programme in place across HCA UK. You are required to participate in these programmes, by reporting adverse events and accidents, identifying and reporting risks to your Line Manager or through the Datix reporting system.
You may well be involved in one of our
clinical audit programmes.
The CQC inspection programme assesses our delivery of care and our services against a number of key criteria, which our governance programme helps us to deliver. It is crucial that you understand your role in delivering care to a high standard.
If you would like to be more involved, your Line Manager is an excellent resource or contact your Head of Governance or speak with the Clinical Services department for further information.
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Health and Safety Responsibilities
We are committed to providing and maintaining a safe and healthy working environment. We also need you to understand your responsibilities under the Health and Safety at Work Act, which requires you to work in a safe manner, to ensure that you
do not put yourself, service-users, visitors,
or other colleagues at risk.
We will, as far as is reasonably practicable, ensure that high standards of safety, health, and welfare are achieved and maintained
in all working conditions and offices. It is
the duty of HCA Healthcare UK to provide and maintain safe systems of work and equipment. We will provide the appropriate tools, training, equipment, and physical environment to work safely. However, we need your help to maintain these standards. You can do that by working safely and efficiently, and observing our Health and Safety rules.
Failure to meet these standards could lead to accidents, injuries, occupational stress or potentially serious incidents, and may result in disciplinary action being taken against individuals, in accordance with our Disciplinary Policy.
Your Line Manager will provide you with further information relating to Health and Safety at your workplace on your appointment to HCA Healthcare UK. They will also keep you updated with changes to our policy.
If you have any concerns about any health and safety issues please raise these immediately with your Line Manager.
Safeguarding
HCA UK is committed to safeguarding our clients, their families and the communities we serve.
Safeguarding is embedded within our corporate and clinical structures and policies to enable us to fulfil our statutory safeguarding responsibilities.
Health organisations, and all staff working within them, play an important part in safeguarding by:
• Promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults
• Identifying and responding to any indication of abuse and neglect
• Contributing to multi-agency safeguarding arrangements.
HCA UK will support you to fulfil your safeguarding responsibilities by providing you with training relevant to your role, policies to guide you, and advice and support as part of our safeguarding escalation processes.
For full details of the safeguarding procedures at HCA Healthcare UK, please refer to the Safeguarding Policies.
First Aid
We will ensure we have relevant first aid procedures and equipment at each of our units to provide assistance to colleagues and visitors, who become ill or are injured while on our premises. Remember to ensure you know the name of the designated first aider in your workplace.
Reporting an Accident
If an accident happens whilst you are at work, you must report it immediately to your Line Manager and record it on Datix, the accident reporting system. These records are checked regularly to identify trends and prevent similar accidents happening in the future.
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Your Working Environment
Business Continuity
Business continuity plans are in place should any incident or event occur which either
has caused, or has the potential to cause
a significant impact upon the delivery to any of HCA UK’s key services and prioritised activities. Please contact your Line Manager for information regarding continuity plans.
What to do in the Event of a Fire
You will receive full training on what to do in the event of a fire at your induction. However, to make sure you are fully aware of what to do in the event of a fire, please:
• Read the HCA UK Fire Precautions Policy and local procedures.
• Read the fire action notices, which are posted by each fire alarm call point.
• Understand the fire alarm signals in the area in which you are working.
• Know where the emergency exits are and the routes to them.
• Keep exit gangways clear and fire doors/ shutters and extinguishers unobstructed.
• Know the location of your fire assembly point.
• Know how to sound the alarm using a fire
alarm call point.
Remember that prevention is better than cure. We can all play a part in preventing fires from starting by adhering to the following:
• Do not smoke in or near HCA UK buildings.
• Keep all areas clean and tidy and keep
rubbish to a minimum.
• Switch off faulty electrical equipment and fittings and report them immediately.
Please ask your Line Manager should you need any of the instructions explained.
Prevent
HCA Healthcare UK supports Prevent, which is part of the Government counter-terrorism strategy. It is designed to tackle the problem of terrorism at its roots, preventing people from supporting terrorism or becoming terrorists themselves. Prevent operates in the ‘pre-criminal space’. It is about supporting individuals who are at risk of radicalisation in order to discourage them from becoming terrorists, or supporting terrorism. It is not about any particular ideology – it covers all forms of extremism.
Prevent is about:
NOTICING – vulnerability to radicalisation, changes in behaviour, ideology, and other signs of extremist exploitation.
CHECKING – your concerns out with your Line Manager and the HCA UK Corporate Safeguarding Lead to offer support and help determine a proportionate response.
SHARING – your concerns, where appropriate, with partner agencies and as far as possible being open and honest with the individual around your duty to share concerns.
If you are concerned that someone you know is at risk of radicalisation, please contact your local HR team, the HCA UK Corporate Safeguarding Lead or the Legal Department for support.
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Leaving HCA UK
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Leaving HCA UK
Exit Interviews
We hope that you will stay with HCA UK for a long while but if you resign, you will be asked to take part in an online exit interview to get your feedback on areas we can improve on
in the future. Your local HR team will also contact you to arrange a face-to-face exit interview. As you move on, we are always open to you reapplying in the future.
Final Pay and Pension Arrangements
When you leave us, your final pay including any accrued but untaken holiday leave,
will be paid directly into your bank account. However, if you have taken more holidays than you have accrued, these will be deducted from your final pay along with any other amount you owe, including any overpayment of salary or company loan.
When you leave HCA Healthcare UK, you will also be contacted by your pension provider with regard to your contributions and what happens next.
For further information, please speak to the Central Reward team at the Corporate Office 242 Marylebone Road.
Returning Property
On your last working day, you’ll be asked to return all company equipment, including, but not limited to:
• Uniform and badge.
• Facility/locker/accommodation keys.
• Car park permits.
• Protective clothing.
• Phone/laptop and any other IT equipment including Smartcards and USB sticks.
Getting a Reference
If you leave us to start a job with another employer, you may request a reference. This will be produced by your HR team and will include only factual details, i.e. job title, salary, start date and leaving date, in line with our Company Policy.
Giving Notice
When you resign you will need to give notice, in writing, to your Line Manager. You can find details of the notice you are required to give in your Contract of Employment. The notice period that the company is required to give you will also be set out in your Contract of Employment.
Redeployment or Redundancy
We are always working hard and planning
in advance to avoid the need for either redeployment or redundancy. However, there may be times when this will be unavoidable. Through these times of change we will support, develop and re-train you as appropriate.
If jobs have to be lost, we will try to find you alternative employment within the company before considering redundancy. If this isn’t possible, redundancy payments will be made in line with the Statutory Redundancy Payment Scheme.
For more information please refer to the
Redundancy Policy.
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Retirement
Employees intending to retire should inform their Line Manager in writing as far in advance as possible and, in any event, at least in accordance with the notice period as set out in their contract of employment. This will assist the Company with its succession planning and enable the necessary pension arrangements to be made in good time.
In order to ensure that you receive your Pension benefits on (or close to) your intended retirement date we recommend you allow at least six months. Once a definite retirement date is known, employees should contact the Central Reward Team at the Corporate Office confirming their intended retirement date in order to begin the process of accessing their pension.
The HCA UK staff scheme’s normal retirement age is 65 or the relevant State Pension Age, however employees can access their pension savings sooner or later should they wish to do so subject to certain terms and conditions. For further information please refer to the Corporate Retirement Policy on Grapevine or the Central Reward Team at the Corporate Office.
Security
It is the responsibility of Line Managers and Budget Managers to fill out both the IT and HR Leavers forms when a member of their team leaves. Employees need to surrender their ID cards to their Managers, which should then be deactivated.
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ThankYou!
Thank you for taking the time to read your Employee Handbook.
We hope you have been able to find all of the information you need for a successful career with HCA Healthcare UK, which will help you to deliver the highest quality of care and service to our customers through having a greater understanding of the company.
If you find you do have additional questions please speak to your Line Manager or local HR team who will be able to help you.