Taking place today, the 6Csy event is designed to help clinical and non-clinical health workers reconnect with the core values of the NHS. Delegates will look at how they can integrate each 6C value into their practice, and discuss how the 6Cs fit into the NHS Five Year Forward View.
The six Cs (care, compassion, competence, communication, courage and commitment) are enduring values and behaviours that underpin compassion in practice.
Speaking about why the 6Cs are so integral to his practice and why everyone should embrace the 6C values, event organiser Joan Pons Laplana said: “The 6cs for me remind me of my marriage vows: the 6cs are the values that every health worker should feel inspired by.
“It is a privilege and an honour being a nurse but with that privilege comes professional responsibility. The 6Cs can renew our professionalism and the public’s confidence in our professions. The 6Cs are not just the business of nurses, midwives and care staff: they are the business of all health and care staff, from doctors to porters, to physiotherapists, to care workers and managers.”
Care Makers are volunteers who act as ambassadors for the 6Cs and are made up of colleagues from the health and social care sector. Care Makers are selected for demonstrating passion and a commitment to spreading the word about and the 6Cs across the NHS and beyond.
Care Maker Maria Davison, winner of the Frances Jaye Care and Compassion Award and also an organiser of today’s event, shared how important it is that the 6Cs are an integral part of practice: “The 6C’s are the least others should expect. You cannot turn on compassion and care because you are going to work; commitment and competence are not elements of practice that I dust off for special occasions nor do I believe communication can be muted or enhanced to suit. Most importantly to me is the courage that it takes to implement these values. Without courage I wouldn’t be able to deliver any of the other values.
“I am a Care Maker and I am proud of all the elements of my practices that this highlights. I strive to make a difference; I just happen to do it in a nurse’s uniform sometimes.”
You can follow today’s event on Twitter with the hashtag #6Csy.
The East-Midlands NHS Change Day hubbies will also launch their region’s NHS Change Day activity at the event, sharing their plans for March 11 and encouraging others to get involved. If you are based in the East Midlands region and you would like to know more about how you can get involved in NHS Change Day, then please contact Maria Davison or Joan Pons Laplana for more information.
You can find out more about what each 6C value stands for, and learn how others are putting them into practice at www.nhsemployers.org/campaigns/care-makers/about-care-makers/the-6cs-defined.