Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Achieve Carer Friendly Employer Accreditation

Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Achieve Nottinghamshire Carers Association (NCA) Carer Friendly Employer Accreditation

During a special presentation at Kingsmill Hospital, Jayne Davies from Nottinghamshire Carers Association (NCA) awarded the Carer Friendly Employer Quality Mark to Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in recognition of all the work undertaken to identify, acknowledge and support informal Carers amongst their employees.  The Trust has introduced a Carers passport, along with training and guidance notes, trained Carer Champions, reviewed policies and procedures to ensure they are inclusive of Carers, set up a Carers network and communicated the support available throughout the organisation. 

Ali Pearson, People Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Lead for Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “We saw the benefits of the introduction of the Carers Passport for our patients and their Carers and decided to implement the passport for our colleagues, acknowledging that many NHS colleagues are unpaid Carers. We have done more than implementing the passport to support our colleagues and have been able to achieve this with the fantastic support from Jayne at the Nottinghamshire Carers Association. It is important for us to develop and maintain relationships with our community partners to ensure Sherwood Forest Hospitals is an inclusive place to work and receive outstanding care and we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Jayne and Nottinghamshire Carers Association to other businesses wishing to be Carer Friendly Employers”.

Jayne Davies, Employer Engagement Worker at NCA, said: “It is an absolute pleasure to award the mark, and it is ‘exceptional’ for SFHT to be the first NHS Trust to achieve this accreditation in Nottinghamshire.  The whole Task and Finish Action Group, set up at the beginning of the process, have been unwavering in their efforts to achieve this accreditation, and in doing so have shown a real commitment to Carers that is now embedded in their organisation,

NCA work with health and social care professionals, schools, GP’s and local organisations to raise awareness of unpaid Carers, and to promote the Carers Hub service Tu Vida across the county.  Commissioned by Nottinghamshire County Council (NCC).

The Carers in Employment project aims to support and encourage organisations across Nottinghamshire to retain those staff who, due to their unpaid caring responsibilities, are at risk of leaving the workforce as a result of stress, ill health, lack of understanding and/or simply lack of time.

Employers can benefit from free training, resources and ongoing support from NCA. Understanding that a “one size fits all” approach isn’t practical, NCA will help to review policies and procedures so employers can offer a level of support that is appropriate to their own workplace.

The business benefits of providing employees with support to manage their unpaid caring role alongside their paid employment include employee retention, reduced recruitment and training costs, reduction in sickness and absence and improved productivity alongside better people management.

If you are an employer in Nottinghamshire and would like to know more about the Carers in Employment initiative, please contact: Employers@nottinghamshireCarers.co.uk

Caption:  Members of the task and finish action group from Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust receiving their Carer Friendly Employer certificate of accreditation from Nottinghamshire Carers Association (NCA).  From right to left:  Carolyn Harris, Sharon Cook, Jayne Davies (NCA), Amy Gouldstone, Shannon Unwin and Dr. Elizabeth Carlin.