Publish date: 26 June 2023
Better Health at Work award for North East NHS trust
One of the region’s largest NHS trusts has maintained its ambassador status for the continued efforts to improve and look after the health and wellbeing of its employees.
Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has retained its Maintaining Excellence Standard, the highest level of the Better Health at Work Award, a regional scheme recognising workplaces’ efforts to improve staff health and wellbeing.
In addition, the trust has also maintained its ambassador status, recognising its work to support staff wellbeing – a status only limited organisations receive. The report gave special recognition to the trust for ensuring health and wellbeing is embedded and continually woven into the infrastructure.
Kate Thompson, Northumbria Healthcare's executive director of people and organisational development, said: “Our staff’s health and wellbeing will always be a top priority. Their hard work ensures that our local communities receive safe and high-quality care.
"Everybody has had a part to play in creating a positive and supportive workforce that looks out for each other, and I want to thank the staff for all their ideas and support in achieving this award.”
Steven Chater, staff wellbeing lead for the trust, added: “One of our strengths lies in how embedded staff health and wellbeing continues to be here, with our ethos being that wellbeing is ‘built in, not bolt-on'.
"Our ambassador status is a great recognition of so many people within the trust, including our growing team of health and wellbeing champions, who continue to spread the word across the many and varied teams that make up Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust."
Susanne Nichol, from Better Health at Work Award, said: “It is clear to see that the trust takes its ambassadorial and anchor institution status seriously and uses it to best advantage for staff and community. The mantra of 'built in, not bolt-on' is fantastic and shows a real grasp of what delivering holistic health and wellbeing to make a healthy organisation with healthy, supported staff - and by extension patients, means. The integration of this work is key.
"It’s always a pleasure to assess them for the Better Health at Work Award and their reaccreditation at ME level and Ambassador Status is thoroughly well-deserved.”
Jill Harland, consultant in public health at the trust, summarised: "It is great to receive this recognition for our collaborative staff health and wellbeing programme. We place great emphasis on using insights and intelligence to better tailor our interventions to ensure we meet the needs of all staff groups.
"As we mark 75 years of the NHS, we should celebrate our achievements in promoting staff health and wellbeing, as well as looking ahead to ongoing opportunities to care for our dedicated staff who work hard to improve the lives of the people we care for."
Supporting patients' wider health and wellbeing is also a key focus for the trust, for example, through the Active Hospitals programme. Northumbria was one of the first four trust to pilot this nationally, running for two years from October 2020 to November 2022.
However, this is not the end for Active Hospitals at Northumbria Healthcare and work will be continuing to build on the projects delivered so far and to continue helping patients and staff understand the benefits of physical activity and moving more.