NELFT are delighted to announce that we have been shortlisted for two HSJ awards.

Freedom to Speak up Organisation of the Year award

NELFT has been shortlisted for an award for Freedom to Speak Up (FTSU) Organisation of the Year 2021.

Every NHS trust in England has a Freedom to Speak Up (FTSU) guardian, whose role is to support staff in raising genuine concerns about their work. They are completely independent and governed by the Care Quality Commission.

Our Freedom to Speak Up Guardian, Kate Pollock, said: "It is with great joy that I get to communicate to our colleagues that NELFT has been shortlisted for an award from the Health Service Journal (HSJ) for Freedom to Speak Up (FTSU) Organisation of the Year 2021!

"Many of you may have seen the communications highlighting NELFT’s increased FTSU Index Score 2020 (a metric from the NHS staff survey), from 80.5% in 2019 to 81.6% in 2020. This positive movement indicating an increasingly positive speaking up culture in NELFT prompted the submission for the HSJ award. Applying for this award made everyone involved reflect on the work done across the organisation to support learning, open-dialogue, collaboration, joint decision-making, transparency and a just and compassionate culture. It is nice to see how far the organisation has come from where it was, but this does not mean its time to relax and sit back, rather it provides an incentive to strive towards ensuring all colleagues across the organisation feel encouraged and confident in raising concerns.

"Thank you to every colleague in the organisation who has spoken up, asked questions, and highlighted areas where improvement was needed. Thank you to every manager and leader in the organisation who has expressed their gratitude to a staff member for raising concerns, who has modelled compassionate leadership and who has created working environments where their colleagues feel psychologically safe, valued and empowered. The positive culture that we are moving towards is due to your commitment and consistency in practicing NELFT’s values. My sincere thanks."

Military and Civilian Partnership award

NELFT have been shortlisted in the Military and Civilian Partnership category for our work with 22 Field Hospital setting up NHS Nightingale Hospital London.

This award provides a unique opportunity to celebrate excellence in healthcare and health improvement for the Armed Forces community (as defined in the Armed Forces Covenant), and the importance of working in partnership with several stakeholders including the Defence Medical Services; the NHS; the Department of Health and Social Care; and the independent and voluntary sectors.

Our work with 22 Field Hospital to support NHS London to create extra bed capacity in response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been recognised through being shortlisted. In just 10 days we had worked together to deliver a 60 bed hospital, staffed with colleagues from across London, supporting patients who required rehabilitation before being discharged back home. Colleagues worked across clinical and support services to deliver this and we are proud of our approach to collaborative working.