Strategies for successful staff induction

Staff inductions are critical for supporting new employees in your practice, but what should be included in them?

CQC guidance on staffing states that employers must have an induction programme that prepares staff for their roles and allows providers that employ healthcare assistants and social care support works to make sure new staff are supported, skilled and assessed as competent to carry out their roles. 

For practice managers it is beneficial to regularly review induction processes to make sure they meet the new and evolving needs of new staff. To do this, they should consider the following aspects.

Who needs an induction? 

All employees need an induction, and each one will need to be specific to the new employee’s role. This applies to temporary as well as permanent staff, including locum doctors covering sick or maternity leave. 

What to cover

Inductions should be tailored to the role concerned and take account of the new staff member’s level of experience, but all staff should receive the following:

• An introduction to their colleagues and their role.
• A health and safety tour – this includes sharps bins, infection control, fire exits, etc.
• Guidance on confidentiality and data protection – this includes their duty of confidentiality and the importance of only accessing patient information required for their role should be emphasised. Information should be provided on related matters such as practice procedures to safeguard patient privacy in reception areas, how to deal with requests for patient information from third parties and subject access requests.
• How to handle complaints – this includes the practice’s policy and timescales for responding to complaints.
• The procedure for raising patient safety concerns.
• Safeguarding information – this includes how to raise concerns about possible abuse or neglect of a child or vulnerable adult, and how to respond to requests from social services or the police.
• Information on personal conduct – this includes policies on discrimination, the responsible use of social media, respect for colleagues and the disciplinary procedure.
• Training on practice systems for managing patient correspondence, appointments and telephone consultations, travel clinics and other services.
• The procedures for emergencies, making adjustments under equality legislation, responding to aggressive behaviour.

How long should they take?

The duration of staff inductions for permanent staff depends on the role; there will be some important information to pass on straight away, like a tour of the practice, health and safety information or dealing with employment documents but, in order to avoid overwhelming new recruits on their first day, it makes sense to prioritise and carry out the programme over several days or weeks.

Reminders

Even if staff have completed their induction, they may still require support to adapt to their new roles. It could be beneficial to assign a member of the team to act as their contact or mentor during this period – and make sure you keep an eye on their progress.