This is a five-year strategy to improve the health and wellbeing services for NHS people, to keep them safe and healthy, and empowered to pass good care onto patients. This forms part of the NHS’s ambition for a proactive culture of wellbeing within the NHS people plan and people promise. This strategy now forms a mandate for action for integrated care systems and NHS organisations as part of whole system workforce planning, having been included as part of 2023-24 NHS priorities and operational planning guidance. This demonstrates the importance placed in looking after the health and wellbeing of all NHS people in the workplace.
Dame Carol Black, Chair, NHS Health and Wellbeing Expert Advisory Group and Dr Steven Boorman, Chair, NHS Growing Occupational Health and Wellbeing Steering Group said:
“Now is the time to act to invest in and grow our occupational health and wellbeing services in the NHS. This strategy represents a collaborative direction of travel for our entire healthcare system to fully realise the value that our occupational health and wellbeing professional services contribute to our NHS. Recent years have placed an enormous demand on our NHS workforce. The massive impact of the pandemic, and the future burden of underdiagnosed disease and long-term conditions, for both the wider population and NHS staff, make it essential that our NHS workforce get access to, and reassurance from, the very best occupational health and wellbeing support. This will enable them to be safe, healthy, and protected in their roles. There have been multiple expert-led reviews concluding that the health and wellbeing of NHS staff impacts quality of patient care, organisational efficiency, and ability to deliver regulatory targets. Simply put, looking after the health and wellbeing of our NHS people enables them to pass on good quality care to our patients. We not only commend this strategy to our healthcare leaders and fellow occupational health and wellbeing professionals, but we urge you to take action to make this happen.”
See NHS England » Growing occupational health and wellbeing together strategy.