David Oliver: When organisations’ behaviours betray their value statements

Value statements are intended to list the core principles guiding an organisation and its culture, creating a moral compass for it and its employees.1 Health and social care organisations in the UK all have such statements. The NHS constitution sets out values for the entire NHS workforce and range of services.2

I’m not sure, however, that we always live up to those values or even try to. Too often they’re reduced to lip service and generic platitudes that no one could disagree with as principles.3 If researchers reported a thematic analysis or word cloud they’d identify some recurrent themes in the stated values: “person centred,” “patient centred,” “based on individual needs,” “supporting patients and their families,” “respecting choice, dignity, and priorities,” “inclusive,” “coordinated,” …