3 December Webinar | Schwartz Round
The Moorfields Schwartz Round team comprises of Anita Aubrey, Andy Dywer, Margaret McNamara, Rashmi Mathew and invites you and your team to attend the Online Schwartz Round Thursday 3rd December 2020 titled “Lean On Me”. Our panel members Nima Ghadiri, Consultant in Uveitis at Moorfields Eye Hospital and Great Ormond Street, UK, Shannon Joseph, Assistant Professor in Ophthalmology, Kellog Eye Center, at the University of Michigan and Mark Maynard, Quality Partner for the Moorfields South division in the UK will be sharing their experiences.
The information below gives some details about content of the Schwartz Round and how to join the Round on Thursday 3rd December 1pm to 2pm. (UK time) – The link will be open from 12:45 to get yourself settled.
Please review this information and ensure that you read the confidentiality statement.
Schwartz Rounds are facilitated, confidential meetings where staff from all backgrounds and professions come together to discuss the emotional and social challenges associated with their jobs. They offer staff a regular scheduled time and place in which they can openly and honestly discuss the personal impact of working in health care. Rounds are Trust non-problem solving, with the focus of rounds instead being on the human dimension of healthcare and personal experience.
We have scheduled our virtual meeting on the 3rd December, titled “Lean On Me”
Housekeeping
The Schwartz Round will begin at promptly at 1pm. After brief introductions, our panel will share a 5 minute story each about their experience related to the theme of the panel, after which we then open out the discussion to the wider group of attendees to share their own reflections and what resonated for them from the stories they heard.
We will open the meeting at 12.45 to allow people to check their IT connection and settle in before the round starts. Please note that to avoid disruption to the panellists we will be locking the zoom call at 13:05.
If your connection drops and the room is locked, please do email and we will try our best to get you back in.
Whilst the panellists share their stories, participants will be muted to avoid disruption but you are encouraged to keep cameras on to benefit fully from the Round.
At the end of the Round we will post a link in the Zoom chat box so that you can provide feedback on the Round.
To book your place online and to receive your Zoom link, please send an email:
We look forward to meeting you and hope that you enjoy the Round.
What is an Schwartz Round?
Schwartz Rounds provide a structured forum where all staff, clinical and non-clinical, come together to discuss the emotional and social aspects of working in healthcare. The purpose of Rounds are to understand the challenges and rewards that are intrinsic to providing care, not to solve problems or to focus on the clinical aspects of patient care. Rounds can help staff feel more supported in their jobs, allowing them the time and space to reflect on their roles. The underlying premise for Rounds is that the compassion shown by staff can make all the difference to a patient’s experience of care, but that in order to provide compassionate care, staff must feel supported and cared for themselves.
Origins of Schwartz Rounds
In 1994 a health attorney called Ken Schwartz was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. During his treatment, he found that what mattered to him most as a patient were the simple acts of kindness from his caregivers, which he said made “the unbearable bearable.” Before his death, he left a legacy for the establishment of the Schwartz Center in Boston, to help to foster compassion in healthcare.
“I have learned that medicine is not merely about performing tests or surgeries, or administering drugs… For as skilled and knowledgeable as my caregivers are, what matters most is that they have empathized with me in a way that gives me hope and makes me feel like a human being, not just an illness.”
In 2009, Schwartz Rounds were brought to the UK by the Point of Care programme at The King’s Fund and continue to be implemented by The Point of Care Foundation.
Benefits of Rounds
Staff who regularly attend Schwartz Rounds feel less stressed and isolated at work. Listening to colleagues describe the challenges of their work helps to normalise emotions, which are part and parcel of working in healthcare but are often kept under the surface. This shared understanding manifests in improved communication between colleagues and a greater sense of teamwork. Discussing the personal impact of working in healthcare reduces the sense of hierarchy that exists between staff. Seeing beyond the professional identity of their colleagues allows staff to feel more connected to one another. Participation in Rounds also helps to provide staff with greater insight into how all colleagues, regardless of role, play a vital part in the patient journey.
Date: Friday 20 November 2020