New service will help NHS reach employee Health and Wellbeing targets

A new service has been launched to help NHS Trusts respond to the Department of Health’s new employee Health and Wellbeing agenda – and to benchmark their progress.

The unique NHS Health and Wellbeing service – developed by leading employee benefits provider NHS Discounts – has been designed to save Trusts time and money by providing a central hub of resources and benefits covering every aspect of employee health.

The service has been developed in response to the findings of the Boorman Review, which estimated that the NHS could save £555million by improving employee health and reducing absenteeism.

Barts and The London NHS Trust have already signed up to receive the service over the next three years, commencing April 2010.

Ali Mohammed, Director of Human Resources and Organisational Development, Barts and The London NHS Trust comments:

“Barts and The London are delighted to be signing up to this initiative with NHS Discounts which will help us enhance our offering to staff in conjunction with the health & wellbeing agenda which is a key component of the NHS Operating Framework.  It will also form a key part in supporting our staff engagement and retention strategies.

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Key benefits of the service are:

• Trusts can easily measure progress through quarterly ‘pulse’ surveys, which allow ongoing tracking and benchmarking against national results
  
• Ready-made communications materials save Trusts time; the central resource hub includes online and promotional materials covering everything from smoking cessation to healthy eating
  
• Improved understanding among employees of the value of their total employment package, through ‘Total Reward Statements’
  
• A potential saving of up to 75 per cent of the cost of purchasing individual elements of the service
  
• Shared best practice through an online knowledge bank and regular forums
  
• Access to exclusive benefits that support fitness, healthy eating and lifestyle initiatives
   

Chris Heather, Chief Executive Officer for NHS Discounts, which provides employee discounts to more than 800,000 NHS employees, said: “At a time when public sector cost efficiencies are a key priority, we have used our expertise in employee engagement to develop a unique service package that will enable Trusts to meet this agenda – and to do so extremely cost-effectively.”