Six Restorative Practice Habits in Healthcare

Restorative Practice at Work: Six habits for improving relationships in healthcare settings

Published in September 2023, available here: www.crownhouse.co.uk, or your preferred bookstore.

Download the book flyer here.

The Restorative Thinking team began a restorative practice pathway with University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT) in 2021.  This pathway involves over 80 managers across clinical and wider teams. 

“So I think it’s having the tools sort of ingrained in my brain now, that I can think about each day.”                                                                    (Claire Rawes, Theatres Matron, UHMBT)

We set out to test how far restorative practice, as a set of daily habits, can cultivate better team cohesion; build social capital and equality of voice; better enable individuals and teams to problem-solve together; respectfully hold each other to account; have conversations that are difficult; draw on the language and behaviours that foster psychological safety.

Leaders at UHMBT also wanted to explore how much value our pathfinder could add to their ‘Just and Learning Culture’ programme, the behaviours and communications that define civility and respect and the wider culture change programme.

This book gives a working definition of restorative practice; explains what happened through our pathfinder and the outcomes; presents six daily habits alongside practical suggestions and resources to immediately engage with restorative practice in any healthcare team or setting.

Author Lesley Parkinson has worked with leaders across Public Services since 2012 to introduce and embed restorative practice as the practice model, bringing to life organisational culture change and improvements:

“I’ve observed clinical teams in action and spoken with leaders across multiple teams.  We’ve collaborated to explore how relevant and useful restorative practice habits are in the NHS context.  We’ve learnt that these habits are relevant and add value, in multiple settings and scenarios.  Although we’ve scratched only the very tip of the iceberg, I think we are on to something!”

This book develops the restorative practice narrative in healthcare settings; it’s a practical resource for individuals and teams that want to know more about introducing and embedding restorative practice.