Schwartz Rounds roles

When recruiting the team it is important that everyone is aware of the time commitment of working on Schwartz Rounds. Managers should ensure that their staff are given adequate time to do their tasks.

Schwartz Rounds job roles – PDF

The facilitator

The facilitator undertakes a very skilled role, so it helps if they have experience of working with groups and managing difficult emotions. Often people with psychological or social work backgrounds suit this role.

They will also need to have good knowledge of staff experience issues, the structure and the culture of the organisation.

Time

The facilitator role requires approximately 5-6 hours per month.

This time is taken up primarily by panel preparation, as well as steering group meetings and the Round itself.

Responsibilities

To help panellists prepare their stories
To help panellists and the audience share personal experiences in a public setting
To ensure the Round is safe, confidential and given workable boundaries
To open up a reflective discussion and attend to emotional aspects of care
To help move away from the participants’ natural desire to problem-solve
To draw out meaning and themes underlying the stories
To feel comfortable with silence
To confidently manage challenge and uncertainty that can arise
To maintain a neutral, curious and compassionate position.

The clinical lead

The clinical lead plays an important symbolic role, demonstrating the importance of attending to the emotional impact of care to the medical or clinical community. It helps if the clinical lead is a respected senior member of staff, with experience of working in pressured clinical settings (they will use this experience to engage the medical community at various levels and share their own experiences).

The type of professional selected for this role will vary with setting; in an acute trust the clinical lead is likely to be a senior medic, whilst in a community trust they should be chosen to reflect the particular staff profile.

The clinical lead works closely with the facilitator and undertakes a skilled co-facilitation role. It helps if they have some group work experience and an interest in staff experience.

Time

The clinical lead role requires approximately 4 hours per month.

This time is taken up by finding panellists, attending the steering group meeting and facilitating the Round itself.

Responsibilities

To help find cases and panellists
To co-facilitate the Rounds and ensure that they are run in accordance with the Schwartz model
To draw on personal experience and demonstrate a reflective stance
To champion the Rounds and represent them at senior levels in the organisation
To remain neutral and compassionate when faced with controversy in the Round.

The steering group

The steering group is comprised of 8-12 staff from multiple clinical and non-clinical disciplines. The steering group may be smaller depending on the size of the organisation.

It helps if the group represents a wide range of departments within the organisation from different levels of seniority. The diversity of the steering group is an important factor in promoting Rounds and ensuring that attendance is strong. Examples include:

board members and senior clinicians
junior nurses
psychologists
chaplaincy staff
staff engagement leads
patient experience leads
operational or facilities managers
representatives from junior medicine
heads of some medical specialities (cardiology, orthopaedics, oncology etc)
housekeeping
marketing and communication professionals
HR managers

You might want to map out your steering group using this mapping exercise.

Time

Each steering group member requires approximately 2-3 hours per month. This time is taken up primarily by attending a monthly meeting and the Round itself.

Responsibilities

To raise the profile of Rounds
To share ownership of the Rounds
To attend monthly steering group meetings
To help find cases and panellists
To support the facilitator and clinical lead in their roles
Debriefing the Round with the clinical lead and facilitator
To offer contributions in the Rounds to help encourage the discussion, and be available if challenging issues arise
To ensure that Schwartz Rounds remain relevant over time.

The administrator

The administrator plays an important organisational role, so they will need to be efficient.

It helps if they have a genuine interest in staff experience and take ownership of the Schwartz Rounds. The smooth running of Rounds is important to them becoming embedded in the organisation.

Time

The administrator role requires approximately 5-6 hours per month.

This time is taken up primarily by preparing for the Rounds, helping to collate data and writing up feedback reports.

Responsibilities

The administrator works closely with the facilitator, clinical lead and steering group. Their keys roles are:

To enable the efficient running of rounds
To book rooms and organise lunch
To liaise with communications team about promoting the
Rounds
To co-ordinate steering group meetings and write up minutes
To ensure the paperwork is ready for each Round
To ensure that only staff attend and that they sign the
confidentiality agreement
To collect feedback sheets after each Round
To enter the feedback into a database and help to populate a
report.
To support with the virtual functionality of online Rounds using
platforms such as MS Teams or Zoom
Take bookings, send links to join, monitoring the chat function
and icons
Supporting facilitators with the management of online Rounds
Ensuring evaluation links are sent in the chat or via polling
during the online session.