Our organisational values not only shape the identity of our organisation, they act as a guiding light for our employees. Our core values support our organisation’s vision and shape its culture.
We want Hywel Dda University Health Board to be an enjoyable and fulfilling place to work. We know that feeling valued at work has a positive impact on both staff and patients.
It is an expectation that everyone is able to demonstrate a commitment to these values from the point of application through to the day-to-day delivery of their roles. Commitment to our values supports us in our patient care and continued development as a health care provider.
Our Values - CEO Reflections
"The values we choose to live by, either as individuals or organisations are the foundations of the culture and behaviour that colour our personal and professional lives. Unlike many organisations, the NHS has always had a strong sense of what it values – they were “hard baked” into its establishment some 72 years ago. They are a big part of what drives those of us who have joined this amazing institution and make it such a privilege to be a part of it.
Every organisation has its own way of expressing these values, relevant to local history and the hopes and aspirations of the staff that make it up. Indeed, Hywel Dda University Health Board worked with over 2000 staff in 2015/2016 to adopt our own version, which gives voice to how we jointly feel about the sort of organisation we want to be in the wider NHS family.
These values were:
People striving together – for me, this gets to the heart of what the NHS is all about. People are our staff, our patients, carers, their wider families and the population we serve. Striving for excellence means ensuring there is time, space to think, learn and develop, and working together means building genuine, equal and long lasting partnerships.
These values, however, need to be much more than a behaviour framework for ourselves and others. Of course, we should think about how each of us can embody these values in our day-to-day work, encourage and support others to do the same and not stand aside when we see others failing to live them. But, as a Board we also have a responsibility to think about how we can take these values as “design principles” for the organisation – bringing the values to life by building the structures, processes and policies which enable the organisation to be a place which itself embodies these values.
I believe the most important duty of the Board is to make the organisation a great place to work for all our staff and a place where those we serve feel full partners in what we do. I believe that building the organisation around our values is the best way to achieve this. We have such a long way to go and face the constant pressure of today’s priorities but I hope you can join me on this mission so that these values really do change the very fabric of Hywel Dda. Our values represent how we will do things and the expected behaviours in working for this Health Board. We also wanted organisational values that we can genuinely live and breathe.
We have nine personal values that every single one of us in Hywel Dda should demonstrate on a day-to-day basis.
As an organisation I want to incorporate three additional statements, as well as the personal values. These speak for themselves.
In terms of the behaviours we want to see I trust that you will join me in embracing them and strive to implement them all across the organisation.”