Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust is among the best in the country for looking after staff after being unveiled as a finalist in this year’s Healthcare People Management (HPMA) Excellence Awards.

The national awards will be presented on June 22 at a ceremony to recognise and reward outstanding work in healthcare human resource management.

The entry focusses on work done by the Trust over the past 12 months to support employees’ health and wellbeing and how initiatives are having a positive impact on staff.

The trust provides a range of health and wellbeing services for staff, including a comprehensive in house occupational health service, a staff physiotherapy and pain management services, self-referral staff counselling and a variety of wellbeing drop-in events, to help staff look after their health and stay happy at work.

One particular success was the Trust’s flu vaccination campaign to help reduce absence during the busy winter period.

Along with occupational health nurses, a team of volunteer nurses and midwives from across the Trust was recruited to hold “grab-a-jab” clinics and sessions and more than 75 percent of frontline staff were vaccinated, protecting themselves and reducing the chance of passing the potentially serious illness on to patients and other visitors.

Robert Simcox, deputy director of HR at the Trust, said: “It is fantastic to be nationally recognised as one of the best healthcare organisations in the country for caring for our employees.

“Happy and healthy staff are crucial to the smooth running of our hospitals. They work extremely hard to provide high quality care for patients, so it is paramount for us to support and value each other. Our range of health and wellbeing initiatives do just that.”

Ward sister Denise Davies is pictured being given her flu jab by outpatients sister Jo Codd.