What is shared in Schwartz Centre Rounds in an acute trust setting?

Introduction

Schwartz Centre Rounds (SCR) give staff an opportunity to discuss the experience of delivering care with a focus on the ‘human dimension’ of medicine.¹ This facilitated educational format, which originated in the US, helps staff deliver compassionate care, and was introduced to hospices and trusts in the UK in 2009. The uptake of SCR rose after they were mentioned in the 2013 Francis Inquiry.² Motivation for starting rounds in the UK differs from the US, focusing on staff wellbeing, rather than the promotion of compassionate care,³ although the two are linked.⁴

Feedback from rounds suggests benefit from attendance⁵ with increasing efficacy with repeated attendance.⁴ The suggested benefit is hearing staff disclosures and recognising the locus of dysfunction lies in the organisation, not in the individual. This decreases self-criticism and may maintain engagement.⁶ Reduced isolation, increased teamwork, communication, empathy, and compassion towards colleagues and patients, have been reported.⁶ This is important to the current staff and patient wellbeing agenda, with ramifications for recruitment and retention, as well as addressing the stress, burnout and suicide rates of clinicians.

While attendee feedback, focus groups and staff surveys have been investigated, to date there is no report of the content of SCR which is clearly pertinent to the evaluation of their mode of efficacy. We therefore undertook a mixed methods evaluation of the Schwartz rounds within our acute trust. Consent to share content without attribution is taken.