Safe reflective spaces for community and social care organisations: Schwartz Rounds
Find out about emotional support if you work in community or voluntary settings or social care
Schwartz Rounds provide a structured forum where all staff, clinical and non-clinical, come together regularly to discuss the emotional and social aspects of working in healthcare.
The purpose of Rounds is to understand the challenges and rewards that come with providing care, it is not to solve problems or to focus on the clinical aspects of patient care.
Rounds can help people feel more supported in their jobs, allowing them the time and space to reflect on their roles. Evidence shows that staff who attend Rounds feel less stressed and isolated, with increased insight and appreciation for each other’s roles. They also help to reduce hierarchies between staff and to focus attention on relational aspects of care.
The underlying premise for Rounds is that the compassion shown by staff can make all the difference to a patient’s experience of care, but that in order to provide compassionate care staff must, in turn, feel supported in their work.
What’s in a name?
In 1994 Ken Schwartz was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. During his treatment, he found that what mattered to him most as a patient were the simple acts of kindness from his caregivers, which he said made “the unbearable bearable.” Before his death, he left a legacy for the establishment of the Schwartz Center in Boston, USA to help to foster compassion in healthcare.
“I have learned that medicine is not merely about performing tests or surgeries, or administering drugs… For as skilled and knowledgeable as my caregivers are, what matters most is that they have empathized with me in a way that gives me hope and makes me feel like a human being, not just an illness.”
Schwartz Rounds were brought to the UK in 2009, beginning in relatively large organisations providing acute care, but are now operating in a range of different settings, supported by the Point of Care Foundation, including:
- community and mental health trusts
- hospices
- primary care
- educational settings
Watch
Hospital Chief Executive Suzanne Rankin talks about why she brought Schwartz Rounds into her organisation: https://youtu.be/JWxksG0Kq2E
A Schwartz Round in action at St Joseph’s Hospice. https://youtu.be/ftBXbvSkuX8
A Schwartz Round at a hospital trust https://youtu.be/0VfSkjGZAeY
Schwartz Rounds in West Yorkshire and Harrogate
Our ambition is to have Schwartz Rounds running in each of our places in West Yorkshire and Harrogate, and in as many organisations, large and small, as possible.
Schwartz Rounds are for everyone – if you work in a care home, a voluntary organisation in your community, a GP practice, a hospital or any other organisation that provides health or social care, you can start or take part in a Schwartz Round. We have a central team in each place that can help you with all the resources and training you need to help you and your colleagues get the most from this enriching experience.
No matter what your organisation does, the support and training you get to bring your Schwartz Round to life is free. You don’t have to work in frontline care – people in support roles need Schwartz too.
How to get involved
Each of our places in West Yorkshire has a dedicated person who can help you to set up a Schwartz Round, or find you a place on a Round that is already taking place in your organisation.
You can contact your local representative by emailing : bdcccg.wyh.mentalwellbeinghub@nhs.net