Northern Ireland launches staff wellbeing framework

The framework is based on feedback from more than 1,000 HSC workers as well as a review of evidence and aims to provide a “standardised view of what good practice looks like” in terms of supporting staff.

“The demands placed upon our health and social care system in recent times have been unrelenting”

Jacqui Reid

“The framework has a primary focus on the prevention of ill health and promotion of the health and wellbeing of staff,” said the document, which was launched by Northern Ireland health minister Mike Nesbitt last week.

Employers are being asked to review their current health and wellbeing offer and, if needed, make changes to align themselves with the new framework.

The framework, titled Strengthening our Core: A Regional Framework for HSC Staff Health and Wellbeing in the Workplace, outlines three core areas that employers need to get right for good staff health and wellbeing.

The first is ‘working environments’, such as having a break area and green spaces, the need to feel physically safe at work, being able to access healthy food and water and being allowed to maintain a good work-life balance.

The second is having supportive and well-trained managers and teams to help individuals cope with the challenges of working in the health and care service.

The final element is around how well organisations support their staff members’ ‘personal health and wellbeing’ through initiatives such as psychological support services, gym schemes and inclusion networks for groups such as minority ethnic, disabled or LGBT+ staff.

Those behind the report hope that the focus on prevention will not only reduce the financial cost of sickness absence, which was £159m in 2021-22, but also the “human cost”.

It cited the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis on staff and the fact that mental health conditions were one of the leading causes of staff sickness.

Meanwhile, the framework also highlighted the connection between staff wellbeing and patient safety.

“Quite simply, if we look after our people, they in turn are better able to provide safe, high-quality care,” it said.

The work creating the framework was overseen by a multi-disciplinary steering group whose members included Frances Dundee, nursing officer for mental health at the Northern Ireland Department of Health.

“It is important that our workforce receives the help and support it needs to be healthy, well and safe in work”

Mike Nesbitt

The group was jointly chaired by Jacqui Reid, director of human resources, organisational development and corporate communications at the Northern Health and Social Care Trust, and Phil Rogers, director of workforce policy at the Department of Health.

Ms Reid said: “The demands placed upon our health and social care system in recent times have been unrelenting and our workforce continues to be impacted by the ongoing challenges facing the health service at this time.

“Staff are under immense pressure to address the increasing numbers of patients on waiting lists, while also striving to modernise and reform health and social care services.

“Our workforce is our most valuable asset and therefore it’s critical we do all we can to support them and prioritise their wellbeing.”

She said the framework aimed to create a “culture which promotes health and wellbeing” within the HSC and that the guidance would be updated over time to ensure it stayed relevant.

Health minister Mr Nesbitt described the staff in the HSC as its “greatest strength”.

“As we work collectively to ensure better outcomes for all who use our health and social care services, we must not lose sight of the fact that a healthy and well HSC workforce is central to these aspirations,” he added.

“It is therefore important that our workforce receives the help and support it needs to be healthy, well and safe in work.”

Creating a health and wellbeing framework for HSC staff was a commitment made by the government as part of the Health and Social Care Workforce Strategy 2026.