Best Staff Wellbeing Initiative
Barts Health NHS Trust
Barts Hearts peer-to-peer recognition platform for everyday acts of kindness and to support wellbeing
" Prioritising staff wellbeing is crucial. Receiving recognition triggers the release of dopamine, reducing stress levels. Positive feedback directly correlates with reduced stress, contributing to improved wellbeing.
When we asked staff what recognition meant to them, they were very clear that they wanted more visible recognition.
This led to us creating Barts Heart, a bespoke peer-to peer recognition platform, enabling everyday recognition and visible shout-outs for everyday acts of kindness.
Following the launch, we have seen engagement like never before. In the first 24 hours, a total of 4,478 messages were sent, reaching staff that may not ordinarily feel recognised."
Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust
A Public health approach to improving staff wellbeing
" Using a public health approach we aim to improve staff wellbeing, reduce ill health and health inequalities. We extended several of our patient focused campaigns and initiatives to provide opportunities for staff to receive targeted health improvement messages, education and vast majority access to bespoke services. This included healthy weight resources, education, bowel screening awareness sessions, promotion of services such as ‘Drink Coach’ and provision of stop smoking support.
Our initiative to improve staff wellbeing and reduce health-related absences has benefited our employees alongside having a ripple effect on their families, the wider community, and the patients they serve."
HCA Healthcare UK
Thrive 365
" We felt our comprehensive wellbeing offering lacked awareness and wanted to do more to reinforce HCA UK’s commitment to colleague wellbeing and the services we offer to support the diverse needs of our colleagues. To address this, we created Thrive365, compiling our entire suite of wellbeing services/benefits/ policies/discounts/etc (80+) into an easy-to-access ‘one-stop-shop’ for wellbeing information.
We created a comprehensive brochure, online wellbeing-hub, a multisite wellbeing committee, trained 82 colleague mental health first aiders, rolled-out mental health training for leaders/managers, integrated wellbeing into bau processes, and more.
All with the aim of embedding a supportive/positive wellbeing mindset across our organisation."
HCRG Care Group
Introduction of Family Friendly Policy including a comprehensive toolkit and enhanced support offer for colleagues affected by baby loss and infertility
" At HCRG Care Group, we’re here to support colleagues every step of the way, during all stages of life in order, to promote a healthy and happy workforce, encouraging individuals to join and stay with the organisation. We implemented a Family Friendly Policy, including a comprehensive toolkit and enhanced support offer for colleagues affected by baby loss and infertility. Over the past year we have seen colleague satisfaction rise, retention improve and vacancy rates drop."
Imperial College Healthcare Trust
Internationally Educated Nurses Buddy Programme
" In February 2024, we launched the IEN Buddy Programme to support Internationally Educated Nurses (IENs) during their challenging transition to a new country. The initiative, created by the Corporate Education Team-OSCE Team in partnership with the Staff Wellbeing Team, pairs IENs with staff buddies to provide guidance and support. This programme aims to ease IENs’ transition, promote understanding within the Trust, and ensure consistent support for their well-being. Challenges included coordinating the programme and training buddies, but outcomes show improved IEN adaptation and increased engagement from Trust staff."
North Central London ICB in partnership with NCL Training Hubs
Who cares for those who care The health and well-being bus for adult social care staff
" The health and wellbeing bus provided an opportunity for adult social care (ASC) staff to address their own needs. We knew there was unmet need from staff: during regular training sessions held in care homes on taking residents’ vital signs, staff presented with high blood pressure which was undiagnosed. Staff also reported challenges in seeking healthcare and asked us to bring healthcare to their workplace. We saw 487 staff- 78% were female, 61% were from a Black, Asian or a Minority Ethnic background. 46% had high blood pressure (BP), of which 71% were new cases with previously undiagnosed hypertension."
Practice Plus Group, Health in Justice (HiJ) division
Wellbeing cupboards: cutting cost-of-living pressures for Health in Justice colleagues at Practice Plus Group
" The cost-of-living crisis placed a significant burden on nursing and clinical staff. We took steps to alleviate some of this strain by ensuring teams had access to free food, sanitary products, and toiletries within the workplace.
To prevent stigma, and to ensure our wellbeing cupboards were well-utilised, we opted not to reference the link to the cost-of-living crisis; instead, opening them up to all as an extension of our wider wellbeing offer.
Thanks to this initiative, none of our colleagues must go hungry, nor must they face a struggle to access sanitary and toiletry essentials while on shift."
Royal Free London
What Matters to Staff Programme
" The What Matters to Staff Programme is an 8-step improvement cycle, enabling a systematic and structured approach to asking, listening and doing what matters. It was created in response to low staff morale and a theory of belief that if we were able to more effectively listen to staff and put into action those things that mattered to them, well-being at work would increase. It builds on the Joy in Work framework (Institute for Healthcare Improvement) but adds specific steps and standardised measurement to make the process of hearing from and responding to staff consistent, psychologically safe, measurable and scalable."
The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust
Financial Hardship Scheme
" Our Health and Wellbeing Offer (HWB) includes psychological, physical, emotional and healthy lifestyles support. Since the cost of-living crisis, there is increasing research about how financial wellbeing and mental wellbeing are linked – half of people with debt difficulties having mental health difficulties. To support our workforce with these anxieties, the Hardship Scheme was launched, offering staff financial support, shopping and food vouchers. Challenges arose around access and communications however once resolved, positive outcomes followed. We saw an improvement in staff HWB within the Staff Survey 2022/2023 results, scoring above average in the People Pulse Survey 2022 financial support."
West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Self Rostering - Flexible Working Initiative
" The NHS Long Term Plan and People Promise both highlighted the importance of providing flexible working for its workforce to support recruitment and retention. Self-rostering is one of the Trust initiatives to promote flexible working and Trust response to staff feedback ("you said, we did") where staff wanted more input and flexibility on their rosters.
Self-rostering starts from the premise that everyone has work-life balance needs and preferences. It allow all nursing and midwifery staff registered and unregistered to request the shift they wanted, thereby, improving staff work-life balance, and health and wellbeing within the constraints of service."