This section deals with the standards of public life and behaviour that NHS staff and members of the public should expect; and provides guidance on corporate health standard, values and standards of behaviour framework for NHS Wales, fitness to practice, equality, diversity and Human Rights, and violence and aggression.
Living public service values is about being a value-driven organisation, rooted in the Nolan principles and high standards of public life and behaviour. This is what really drives the organisation – the corporate culture and the values which it tries to live out. The Nolan principles, the Civil Service Code, openness, the Welsh Government Customer Service Standards, are all relevant. In the NHS in Wales, these are defined within its Values & Standards of Behaviour framework. Almost every organisation will have a statement of what its values are.
The key issue is the extent to which they are put into practice in the way in which it goes about its business. So, for example, most organisations will tell you that they value their staff as their most important resource etc; but some make a reality of that, and some don’t. Similarly, you might find that what really drives some organisations is the personality of the person at the top; or whatever the most pressing issue of the moment might be – there are organisations which are reacting to what happens to them, rather than being proactive in pursuing their objectives. So organisations which live public service values will be able detail, on a reasonably consistent basis, what are the values which drive the organisation and be able to show you where they are written down. They will have values which adequately reflect the public service ethos in their particular circumstances and exhibit corporate and individual behaviour patterns which seek to live out these values. It will be a value-driven organisation rather than marching to any other tune – as long as the values are right.