Public Board of Directors papers 27.01.22

The strategic review of the NIHR Manchester Clinical Research Facility at The Christie (CCRF) which is referred to in the report was completed in 2020, an action plan was developed and implemented. The leadership of the CCRF has since been strengthened with appointments to managerial roles and a new medical director for The CRF’s Christie site. In response to the review team’s recommendations, we can confirm: R+I Recruitment Processes • All acting up payments within the R+I division have been reviewed and confirmed to have the necessary approvals • The use of fixed term contracts has been reviewed and confirmed as appropriate for the nature of the activities of the R+I division which undertakes a high proportion of fixed term research projects. £10 million of our £20 million research income is on a fixed grant income term and it would be inappropriate for this to be used to fund permanent posts, however our policy is to transfer staff with over 4 years employment to permanent contracts. • Individuals on fixed term contracts have regular annual appraisals and are made fully aware of the nature and implications of their contracts in line with normal employment practice. • A look back review of the turnover and exit interview outcomes has confirmed that 4 of 29 staff that left the CCRF between 01/01/2018 and 31/12/2020 were of a BAME background. Exit interviews do not show any evidence or concern about racial bias. • A review of the exit interview process has identified ways to improve response rates. Work has been undertaken to improve access to the questionnaire and this has been widely communicated within the Trust. Matters not included in the Terms of Reference The report makes comment on issues it acknowledges are not covered in the terms of reference of the review. Leadership of the R+I Division The report describes differences of opinion about the historical effectiveness of the R+I leadership team at The Christie but notes that new appointments to medical leadership posts were in the process of being made. The recommendations set out in this section of the report (3.1.3 and 3.1.4.2) reflect the actions being taken by the Trust at the time of the review: • The R+I Director post was revised with substantial additional time allocation and more formalised membership of the executive team and board of directors. With the decision of the existing R+I Director not to apply for the revised post a new R+I Director was appointed and has been in post since June 2021. This has been accompanied by new appointments to other medical leadership posts including Executive Medical Director and Director of Education. Managerial leadership posts have been made in the CCRF and a new Medical Director CCRF has been appointed. • The newly appointed R+I Director has reviewed the support arrangements for the role and will be bringing forward proposals over the coming months. • There is an organisational development programme within the department including: o A Health &Wellbeing group reporting to the divisional board. o Quarterly events for all staff o A weekly newsletter sent to all staff which includes a range of topics from core R+ID business to new-recruit introductions, health and wellbeing and other staff stories. o The R+ID staff survey results for engagement are very good, and better than the Trust average. The Trust’s Zero Tolerance Approach to Bullying and Harassment The report confirms that The Christie has a zero tolerance of bullying and harassment as demonstrated by the Respect Campaign.

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