Our Investment in Staff
The leadership and co-ordination of the management teams has ensured health and wellbeing of staff as well as the people we support has remained a priority for the Service throughout the pandemic, delivering on our ethos vision and values and continues to do so through the development and delivery of our Covid 19 resilience and emergence plan with further focus on Mental Health and Wellbeing Support.
This compassionate and supportive people management approach emanates throughout all our actions, staff engagement and communications and has been delivered in many ways including:
- Providing PPE: we made sure all our people had access to sufficient appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) and were trained to use it.
- The constant and real time communication updates of Covid-19 related guidance including specialised guidance for supported living services, health & safety/infection control guidance, social distancing policies, information around covid symptoms and required isolation procedures, testing and vaccines.
- Vulnerable staff supported to shield/stringently social distance as appropriate
- Increased access to occupational health provision
- Flexible working encouraged and supported
- Facilitated covid vaccinations for all staff
- Facilitated regular covid testing for all appropriate staff
- Flu vaccination: All Frontline healthcare workers involved in direct patient care are encouraged & supported to receive seasonal influenza vaccination annually
- Home-working support: we made sure people working from home could do so safely and that they have the support they need, including suitable equipment & regular risk assessments.
- Regular supervision and team meetings continued, facilitated remotely as appropriate
- Increased access to online training including the launch of the learning and development zone on the BOCS website and access to extra courses including:
- Covid – 19 training
- Psychological first aid training
- stress resilience training
- ‘rainbow technique’ (a hand based reflexology treatment to support relaxation and reduce anxiety)
- Bereavement training
- Proactive recruitment function ensuring services have enough staff to deliver services safely and prevent burnout for existing workforce
- Staff awards and recognition – staff were written to directly and received vouchers for long service and 100% attendance
- Special edition newsletters produced celebrating creativity during lockdown, staff going the extra mile and also awards and achievements
- Regular thank you messages issued on behalf of the service including specific messages from Trustees and CEO
- Videos produced sending positive messages of thanks and support to friends and family while self isolating and keeping safe together
- Promotion of the ‘CARE’ workforce app and badges provided for staff
- Increased promotion of Staff health plan Medicash & benefits including
- Free employee assistance programme
- Free face to face counselling
- Wellbeing app ‘Woebot’
- Specific app ‘Mprove’ that provides huge range of resources tools, guidance and videos to support relaxation, breathing for stress and tips for maintaining mental wellbeing, mindfulness and meditation
- Free GP app
- Skinvision (advice on moles)
- Discount scheme – medicash extras
- Health and wellbeing remains a standing agenda item on staff forums such as Health & Safety Forum, Pastoral Care Forum, Health & Wellbeing Champions Forum, JICC (staff consultation forum)
- Service areas nominated link people in each location so that the Advocacy team and pastoral care co-coordinator can keep direct contact with locations to offer additional support to staff and people we support about how they can maintain their emotional wellbeing, share ideas around positive activities, ask about what technology they have in the location and gain ideas that can be shared service wide (all BOCS staff have work email accounts)
- Increased promotion of online events and activities using zoom including exercise classes, arts and crafts sessions, bingo, discos, sing and sign, Halloween and Christmas parties & Virtual ‘Brothers got Talent’ event
- Staff health and wellbeing event delivered online
- Free alternative therapies for staff (subject to covid guidance)
- Relaxation and reflexology sessions delivered via zoom
- All staff issued with branded, warm & shower proof soft shell / fleece lined jackets for winter
- Increased promotion of cycle to work scheme
- Promotion of blue light card scheme (staff discounts for health and social care staff)
- Easy read recipe book distributed across services
- Promotion of ‘SHOUT’ the UK’s first 24/7 text service, free on all major mobile networks, for anyone in crisis anytime, anywhere
