Working in healthcare systems is demanding; staff are often caught up in parallel dynamics and processes balancing clients’ needs and the service’s priorities within a wider care system. Prioritisation seems at times a luxury, as does the capacity to think or have the space to do so. Also, individual staff members bring to work their own value system, beliefs, and professional identities, and these can often be seen at odds with the emerging organisational culture.

Reflective practice groups aim to offer a space for teams to reflect on their clinical practices, acknowledge service challenges and wider organisational systems, and consider the impact on patient care and staff wellbeing.

The key aim of working with teams is to help them develop a reflective space where they can explore and critically evaluate their existing practices, identify issues that make work stressful, think about roles and organisational tasks, and work through factors that influence team cohesion.

Having a safe, confidential, and supportive space to think these processes through is invaluable in enhancing staff’s work satisfaction, team cohesion, and having a positive effect on patient care.