Gateshead Health wins top wellbeing award

Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust has achieved the prestigious Better Health at Work, Continuing Excellence Award. This award is part of a programme available to employers in the North East and Cumbria, encouraging them to promote healthier lifestyles and better support for their staff.

Over the years, the Trust has worked hard to improve staff wellbeing, using the Better Health at Work Award to measure its progress. Starting with the Bronze award in 2022, then Silver in 2023, and Gold in early 2024, the Trust has now reached the Continuing Excellence level as it enters 2025.

Commitment to staff wellbeing

Claire Vesey, Deputy Director of People and Organisational Development, explained the importance of this achievement:

Our success with this award shows how much we care about our staff. We aim to be an outstanding place to work as well as provide excellent patient care.

This year’s award reflects the way we listen to staff through various feedback channels. We know balancing different needs can be challenging, but our priority is always to make sure everyone feels supported. We offer a range of health and wellbeing resources, and we develop new campaigns based on staff suggestions.

We’ll continue to gather feedback and improve our services so that they meet the changing needs of our workforce. Over the coming months, we’ll be visiting teams to share information and hear your ideas to ensure our support remains relevant and accessible.

Stepping up wellbeing efforts

Dale Jones, Health and Wellbeing Manager, added:

Achieving Continuing Excellence is a fantastic milestone for us. Even as external challenges arise, we stay focused on improving staff wellbeing and putting our colleagues first.

This year, we’ll run another workplace health needs survey to dig deeper into what our staff need most. This will guide our priorities and help shape our future health and wellbeing plans.

Thanks go to our health and wellbeing ambassadors, mental health first aiders, managers, and teams like Occupational Health and People Advisory, who all contribute to staff wellbeing. Special thanks also to Louise at Gateshead Council for her support with our award submission.

Looking ahead

The Trust now aims for the next level: the Maintaining Excellence Award. This involves launching a new Health Needs Assessment and reviewing data from the Staff Survey to shape campaigns and a refreshed wellbeing strategy for 2025.

Staff can expect more visits from the wellbeing team in the months ahead to promote available resources. Together, the Trust is building a healthier, happier workplace for all.