New Respect campaign

Today we are launching our Respect campaign to promote a culture of kindness, safety and mutual respect across all our services.

While the vast majority of the people we care for treat our staff with courtesy, too many colleagues continue to experience violence, abuse or discrimination at work. This campaign sets out clear expectations for patients, service users and visitors about how our staff - and everyone who uses our services - should be treated.

The Respect campaign strengthens our commitment to tackling sexual misconduct, racism, discrimination and all forms of unacceptable behaviour. It also provides staff with improved tools, guidance and support to help them respond to challenging situations with confidence.

This work follows our latest NHS Staff Survey, which revealed that in the past 12 months:

• 15% of staff experienced physical violence
• 8% experienced discrimination
• 10% experienced unwanted behaviour of a sexual nature

Anthony Hassall, our chief executive, says: “Our staff come to work every day to provide compassionate care to people experiencing mental health difficulties and those with learning disabilities. The vast majority of the people we support are respectful and kind, but even one incident of abuse is one too many.

“Our staff deserve to feel safe, valued and able to do their jobs without fear. Abuse is not, and never will be, part of the job. This campaign makes clear that racism, violence, sexual misconduct and all forms of abuse are unacceptable. By treating each other with respect, we can ensure our services remain safe places for healing, recovery and high‑quality care.”

The campaign forms part of wider work at Pennine Care to improve staff safety and wellbeing, including: signing up to the NHS Sexual Safety Charter, launching new e-learning on sexual misconduct in the workplace, introducing kindness and civility workshops, implementing an anti-racism action plan and developing a violence response tool to ensure consistent support for staff who experience violence at work.

Campaign materials will be displayed across Pennine Care sites, including inpatient wards, community services, reception areas and staff spaces.