Back in September our Pharmacy team were announced as winners in the health and wellbeing category of the Trust’s annual Star Awards. Much of the team’s success in establishing health and wellbeing within their everyday working life has been down to the input of their dedicated health and wellbeing ambassador, Emma Hall, and a welcoming approach to her work within the team. Here, we explore some of the ways Emma and the team have worked to keep spirits high, beginning with an overview of their recent photo competition.
Emma shares: “Our ‘Staycation snap competition’ aimed to lift the team and create a bit of positivity following the delay or cancellation of summer holidays for many of us. It also gave staff a chance to get involved in a work activity while still spending time with family and friends, which was definitely appreciated.
“The team’s involvement in the competition helped us to show off some of Britain’s finest locations, and created a talking point for us to chat about with those from others from throughout the Trust.
“Our Director of People & OD, Lisa Crichton-Jones was invited to take on the unenviable role of having to select our winners, and competition was so impressive that Lisa ended up selecting three!”
To further boost morale, Emma and the team created a staff shout-out board within their area, providing a simple and visible way to spread positivity and appreciation.
The board would quickly become rammed with notes of recognition, which was a boost to the morale of those such as Trainee Pharmacist, Georgina Lamb, who explains: “The shout-out board made me feel appreciated by my team members and inspired me to continue working hard and helping others.”
Pharmacy Technician, Jennifer Parker, also received a shout-out and explained: “Receiving recognition made me feel very enthusiastic and happy that my work had been appreciated – not only within pharmacy but on the wards too. It definitely spurred me on to continue going above and beyond.”
And most recently, the team have switched things up again with a book review competition as they aim to maximise participation by offering a prize draw entry for every book review submitted within the competition window.
Emma said: “As well as bringing even more life to our area, the competition has again encouraged interaction between us all and also prompted a lot of discussion around many hobbies and interests that we wouldn’t usually touch on. It’s helped create a lot of good vibes within the team and our lucky winner and runner-up will land book vouchers to encourage them to keep on reading.”