The Health Innovation Network (HIN) is the Academic Health Science Network for South London that brings together a wide range of organisations across 12 London boroughs and on the 10th Feb 2015 held its first staff and wellbeing conference, jointly hosted with King’s Health Partners – an NHS organisation with over 36,000 staff.
Details of the event are available here and the Twitter feed. Here is how the hosting organisations outlined the meeting’s purpose:
“Staff are an organisation’s most important asset, but collectively we do not always do enough to support them to be happy and healthy at work. As a result we lose too many days every year to sickness absence and staff can end up dissatisfied and demotivated, which in turn can lead to a poorer experience for our patients, service users, students and customers.
We are committed to finding solutions that address this problem by joining up the mental and physical health and wellbeing of our staff, just as we are doing with our patients and service users. We want to make sure they are fully supported in both mind and body to do their job as effectively as we know they want to.”
This day will be an opportunity to hear about some of the innovative work being done at King’s Health Partners, the Health Innovation Network and beyond. Further agenda details will follow but will include:
- keynote speakers – including Dame Carol Black, Expert Adviser on Health and Wellbeing at work for the Department of Health and the Rt Hon Earl Howe, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Quality
- examples of best practice from across south London
- spreading and adopting best practice
- policy perspectives
- cross-sector staff health and wellbeing marketplace featuring NHS, higher education, industry and 3rd sector representatives
- what we can learn from how we care for our patients, service users and customers
- opportunities to network and share experiences with colleagues
Dame Carol Black highlighted:
- Bellin Total Health Model for staff
- Mental health in the workplace work of Anne-Marie Feyer and Nikki Ellis in Australia
- NHS Leaders Pledge (2014)
- NHS Board Leadership – named member of Board responsible for staff – York Teaching Hosps NHS FT
- Importance of middle management activity and training re staff wellbeing (NICE guideline imminent)
- NHS Employer Roadmaps
- Healthy Universities
- Workplace Wellbeing Charter linked to Public Health Responsibility Deal Pledges (Public Health England)
Prof. Colin Drummond highlighted the issue of screening effectiveness for reducing levels of alcohol consumption
Dr Clare Gerada stated that the NHS was in a constant state of “moving house” and “permanent transition” and highlighted Workplace bullying and questioned whether the NHS was a “clockwork organisation” or a “snake-pit” . The Rainforest option was not discussed at this event!
There were some excellent opportunities for biofizzing, energy bursting and movement with a brief laughter session and DeskActive (go on…try it!).
Organisations very relevant to our cause also presented and exhibited, including: