Homerton Hospital’s support for staff during pandemic sees it nominated for national award

Homerton Hospital. Photograph: courtesy the Homerton

Homerton Hospital has been nominated for a prestigious national award in recognition of its efforts to promote staff wellbeing during the pandemic.

The Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is on the shortlist for the Freedom to Speak Up gong in this year’s Health Services Journal Awards.

The Trust encouraged its employees to voice their concerns during the Covid pandemic and it led to a notable increase in the number of people speaking up.

The local health provider provided support through its very own Freedom to Speak Up (FTSU) guardian, Jacqui McIntosh, who worked full-time to ensure colleagues could access help if they needed it.

The Trust’s director of people, Tom Nettel, said: “We are immensely proud of gaining this national recognition for the work we have done in encouraging our staff to speak up and be heard.

“My special thanks go to our former head of culture Matt Asbrey and our FTSU guardian Jacqui McIntosh who made this nomination a reality.

“Not only did Jacqui reach out to staff during a time of tremendous pressure, but she played a vital part in engaging with those staff, many from Black and ethnic minorities, who had concerns about receiving the Covid vaccination.”

In addition to the support provided by McIntosh, the Trust’s senior managers took part in various events alongside her to encourage dialogue between staff members at every level.

This effort included a podcast series on speaking up, entitled Our Homerton Voices, as well as webinars and information stalls set up in the staff restaurant.

As employees began to come forward, the Trust said it was able to develop new ways of improving the staff experience and the wellbeing of its people.

The Trust has also been nominated in two other categories at the awards along with its north-east London healthcare partners.

The first is in the ‘Innovation and improvement in reducing healthcare inequalities’ category, and the second is for the ‘Place-based Partnership’ award.