Doncaster hospitals achieve highest possible standards

The Trust’s platinum award, presented by Nottinghamshire County Council, acknowledges the organisation’s continued development of staff health and wellbeing services and support to keep members of team DBTH happy and healthy.

Staff working at the local hospitals have access to a number of benefits which help them to eat healthy and stay active. The Trust works with its catering suppliers, local gyms and individual fitness instructors to provide healthy meal options and on-site exercises classes, as well as discounted gym memberships.  A physiotherapy service is also provided, meaning that colleagues can get quick appointments for aches and pains, whether they are acute injuries or long-standing problems, as well as receive advice on actions they should take to prevent musculo-skeletal problems in the future.

To support with emotional and mental wellbeing, all staff members at DBTH also have 24/7 access to an employee assistance service called ’Help’ which provides round-the-clock advice on a multitude of issues such as stress, anxiety and depression, financial worries, domestic problems and bereavement.

Members of the team are encouraged to look out for one another and some have signed up to be health champions and signpost their colleagues to appropriate support services. The champions are based in various departments across the Trust, meaning that the first step to asking for help can be through a familiar face.

Suzy Brain England OBE, Chair of the Board at DBTH, said: “Helping every member of Team DBTH to be happy and healthy is one of our top priorities as a Trust. We assist our staff to take care of themselves well so they can look after their patients well. Supporting our employees means offering more than just help with their physical health.

“Since we were awarded the bronze health and wellbeing award in 2015, our wellbeing team have been working hard to add to the health and wellbeing offer here at the Trust.  The offer now includes services which help staff keep on top of both their physical and mental wellbeing.

“I am extremely proud of what the team has achieved in terms of the services that are now offered. Team members have managed to foster a supportive environment for staff to talk about all manner of issues and share advice with each other.”

The Trust will continue to review its staff health and wellbeing offer and engage with colleagues to identify what support they need to be happy and healthy whilst working at DBTH.