Workplace training provider and wellbeing company Health@Work is proud to have reaccredited Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust with the Workplace Wellbeing Charter accreditation again in 2021. Awarded to those companies who achieve the highest standards in their employee wellbeing initiatives, the Workplace Wellbeing Charter has once again recognised the Trust as a top employer for employee health and wellbeing. Achieving the highest Excellence grade across five of the eight Workplace Wellbeing Charter standards, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals have demonstrated the benefits of reaccreditation as they continue to develop and adapt their wellbeing strategy in line with the latest research and guidance.
With NHS staff having persevered under the immense pressure of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Trust have made improving and supporting mental health among their staff a key priority. This is evidenced by how Mental Health – as well as Leadership, Absence Management, Health & Safety, and Smoking – is one of the standards elevated to Excellence within their Workplace Wellbeing Charter accreditation. “We have invested in and grown our psychological wellbeing service significantly over the last 18 months,” says Health and Wellbeing Lead Lindsey Wharrie of Lancashire Teaching Hospitals. “This has been vital in providing much needed wellbeing support for our colleagues, so we are delighted that this has now gained external recognition.”
The Workplace Wellbeing Charter standards are designed to provide a framework for organisations to embed best practices in their wellbeing initiatives. A large part of Lancashire Teaching Hospitals’ Excellence award in the Mental Health standard, for example, is due to their strong foundations in destigmatising the discussions surrounding mental health, with a wide range of support available for all staff members. This includes training mental health first aiders and ambassadors to ensure a listening ear for all employees in need, as well as a creative approach in the use of an internal podcast where employees can ‘share their stories’ and encourage others to speak up and share their own mental wellbeing challenges.
Charter accreditors were also particularly impressed with the comprehensiveness of the Trust’s recognition framework, ensuring that employees’ individual efforts are recognised both formally and informally, both raising overall standards and boosting employee morale.
“It’s been a pleasure to recognise hard work and dedication to employee health and wellbeing that hospital leadership have shown,” says Health@Work Wellbeing Consultant Declan Doyle, who awarded the Trust with their Charter re-accreditation this September. “Achieving Excellence across five of our wellbeing standards truly shows that by adapting and updating wellbeing initiatives as part of the re-accreditation process, organisations are able to constantly improve their wellbeing offering. We’re looking forward to seeing how the Trust will continue to drive their wellbeing programme forward across the rest of the Charter standards as they maintain an excellent working environment for their staff.”
“Our colleagues really are our most important asset and ensuring that they have support in place to help them cope with the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic is something that is very close to my heart,” says Faith Button, Chief Operating Officer and Wellbeing Guardian for Lancashire Teaching Hospitals. “Nobody is immune to stress and pressure, and our psychological support and mental health and wellbeing offers in particular have proved very popular, they have made a tangible difference to colleagues when they have been feeling overwhelmed.
“The Charter award is welcome recognition of what we have achieved so far and we intend to expand this in the challenging months ahead.”
You can stay up to date with the Lancashire Teaching Hospital NHS Trust on Twitter, at @LancsHospHandWB and @LancsHospitals.
If you’d like to know more about how a Workplace Wellbeing Charter accreditation can benefit your organisation, you can find out more at their website, or you can get in touch with them direct by phone or email to discuss how accreditation can help you.
