Mental Health, Health & Wellbeing, Retention, Talent and Equality Diversity Inclusion & Belonging
The start of 2024/25 saw the establishment of a new team and renaming of the whole team. We delivered a communication strategy that was monitored daily with a monthly team check in. With a new team we developed team objectives to include a team development programme that not only included ensuring stress risk assessment, DSE assessments and wellbeing and talent conversations which formed part of the appraisal process were undertaken. Insight Discovery programme for team members in September 2024 ensure we all visualised our insight colours and focused on our communication methods. Although we have specific leads for retention, wellbeing, EDI&B, and talent, all the workstreams were developed and driven by one team. The leads chair many internal and external meetings, forums and committees and in 2024/25 have planned many virtual and in person events, bringing colleagues from across all sectors together to share, learn, and celebrate success.
The team were shortlisted for two awards during this period. At the Employer Benefit Awards in June, we came second in the Best Healthcare and Wellbeing Benefits - Large Employer category for the most effective healthcare and wellbeing strategy for employers with more than 1,500 staff. Our programme director Brigitte Kaviani was nominated by Vivup and won the Benefit Professional of the Year award.
Here is a snapshot of some of our workstreams the team has led on:
Working together for workforce health and wellbeing – South Yorkshire’s 3-year Roadmap
Accomplishments of the first year of the roadmap includes setting up of a Wellbeing and EDI platform of all activities open to all colleagues across health and care to include family members.
Upcoming HWB Webinars and Courses :: South Yorkshire I.C.S.
Three groups were set up to take forward the objectives of the first year of the strategy: the overarching people partnership group, the proof panel group, and people panel. These groups are co-chaired by NHS Integrated Care Board (ICB), NHS trust, and educational leads. Members of each group consisted of representatives from all sectors to include councils, VCSE and NHS providers.
Mental Health Hub
Vivup mental health hub for staff continued to be funded in last 12 months for across all health and care sectors across South Yorkshire. From April 2024 this included a 24/7 menopause support line. Some organisations, such as the NHS South Yorkshire ICB and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals (STH), open up this offer to family members over 16 years who live in same household). The service includes in the moment support, CBT and EMDR (if required).
Feedback about the Vivup menopause support line:
"I recently used the Vivup menopause line; I called it after work and after a couple of screening phone calls I was offered a consultation with a Menopause specialist Nurse. There was also the offer of counselling around this subject, but this was not required. This consultation was for a few days after my initial call however this was for my convenience I could have chosen a call the very next day.
My call was over teams and lasted 50 mins in which I discussed all my symptoms. This is five times longer than I would have had with my GP. The nurse suggested both medical and holistic solutions for me to try and then followed up with a letter to my GP with her suggestions for treatment and tests – this helped enormously when I had a GP appointment as it condensed all what had been discussed. This was invaluable in helping me feel listened to and that all my symptoms no matter how small had been considered. From this my GP has increased the dose of HRT and changed the preparation which has helped me immensely.
I would like to stress how valuable this service has been for me, and I have recommended it colleagues in the same situation and would recommend to anyone struggling with symptoms."
Mission: Menopause
During 2024/25, we led on several menopause projects. We were fortunate to have been awarded £60K from the South Yorkshire Women's’ Health Hub and by March 2025 we trained a total of 550 Menopause Advocates from across all health and care sectors, including: South Yorkshire ICB, 7 NHS Trusts, 62 VCSE organisations, 21 PCS/GP practices, 4 hospices, and 18 social care/local authority organisations. Our project funded the expansion of Mission: Menopause into VCSE and primary care sectors, developed a series of menopause guides in several languages, as well as a focused piece of work on menopause and its effects on different ethnicities.
On 24th October 2024, we celebrated Menopause Awareness Month and World Menopause Day at our networking event ‘Meno-Connect: Lift the conversation’ at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Sheffield. 135 Menopause Advocates and Champions colleagues attended from across 50 health and care sectors within South Yorkshire. There were market stalls, ‘mini conversations’ (where Menopause Advocates shared their menopause initiatives at their organisations), we had expert speakers, ran quizzes, and a raffle! A ‘Bright Idea’ initiative was launched at the event where Menopause Advocates could submit an idea for a menopause initiative and receive £500 funding to support its development. Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (BHNFT), Manor and Castle Development Trust, SOAR Community, and Sheffield African and Caribbean Mental Health Association (SACMHA) were awarded funding.
Suicide First Aid courses:
67 colleagues from the ICS were trained in suicide first aid between June to December 2024 in a full day course. Colleagues from various organisations were trained including NHS South Yorkshire ICB, STH, Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust (RDaSH), Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (DBTH), Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust (SCH), BHNFT and The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust (TRFT). The criteria to complete the course was to be a trained Mental Health First Aider as the course complemented their existing training. Attendees learnt about rates of suicide, stigma, causes, risk factors, signs, support, and how to have a conversation. High feedback ratings were received (all attendees rated the course as 4.5 out of 5 overall). The course links to wider work around suicide prevention including the ICB’s suicide prevention steering group and a new suicide prevention & support webpage we created for World Suicide Prevention Day in September 2024.
Feedback from a participant:
People Promise exemplar programme
We were awarded funding for the retention lead Tim Newson to support People Promise mangers and schemes within South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire ICSs. There have been 7 organisations who had led on implementing retention initiatives as part of the People Promise Exemplar programme.
Across the 12-month period, face-to-face visits took place by the national NHSE team to South and West Yorkshire. In West Yorkshire, a visit took place to Yorkshire Ambulance Service, Airedale NHS Foundation Trust and a visit to Leeds Teaching Hospital is scheduled for April 2025. In South Yorkshire, on 2nd October, a visit to RDaSH brought together all People Promise mangers in South Yorkshire to share their initiatives.
As the project and funding draws to a close, a virtual People Promise celebration event was held on 26th March 2025 for the People Promise Exemplar programme. We celebrated the innovative work of all the seven People Promise mangers from both South and West Yorkshire organisations, pictured below.
The National team have released the evaluation document of the People Promise Exemplar Programme: Cohort 1 evaluation report. This report has shown that a bundled approach implementing retention activity has been successful and warmly received by news outlets.
‘Staff retention schemes have cut the number of health workers leaving the NHS to one of the lowest levels in more than a decade.'
https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/retention-schemes-cutting-number-of-workers-leaving-nhs/
https://www.nationalhealthexecutive.com/articles/nhs-workforce-retention-boosted-schemes
International Educated Colleague and Refugee support
During 2024/25, we continued to support the recruitment and retention of our international colleagues as well as the ReSTORE refugee nursing programme. Bi-monthly meetings take place where HR, pastoral, and nursing leads come together to share their successes and challenges. In April 2024, we were awarded £3000 from the Stay and Thrive Innovation Fund which was used to launch the ‘Next Steps…Be South Yorkshire’s Best’ workshops which over 114 colleagues took part in.
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In August 2024, as part of Yorkshire Day, we put together a guide to activities that took place during August which has since been converted to a general guide to activities and places to visit in South Yorkshire - Things to do in South Yorkshire :: South Yorkshire I.C.S.
We also ran a summer family day on the 4th August 2024 at RDaSH.
Supporting Staff networks across South Yorkshire
Loma Jones, senior project manager for EDI&B, and the team led several programmes to support staff networks at the South Yorkshire ICB and within South Yorkshire ICS. At the South Yorkshire ICB several staff networks were relaunched following the running costs allowance (RCA) process. Our networks include LGBTQ+ and Allies, Disability, Green and Race and Allies networks. A Neurodiversity staff network was also launched in March 2025.
A Staff Network: ‘Connect and Empower’ event took place on 25th November 2024, where 100 members of South Yorkshire ICS Staff networks from across all sectors met. This included chairs and sponsors who shared learning, and identified common problems and ways to improve connectivity between networks. We heard learning moments from some of our network chairs, and had workshops led by leads for Race Equity, LGBTQ+, and Disability networks. Attendees have been invited to help cocreate the SY Staff Network Handbook and bi-annual meetings have been set up to keep network chairs connected system-wide.
LINK to website
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Women Inspired - South Yorkshire was launched in July 2024. Our South Yorkshire Women’s leadership and aspiring leader events over the past four years have led to a fully-fledged network. The network has continued the tradition of an annual Women’s Day event with the network’s first in-person event taking place on Monday 10th March 2025 at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Sheffield, bringing 150 women together to celebrate and share their inspirational stories.
The committee has planned webinars on topics to benefit women in the system such as “Breaking Barriers: Navigating Systems” and a building careers webinar. They have also run highlight bulletins for World Hijab Day, LGBTQ+ History Month and neurodiversity, celebrating the diversity we have within the women’s network.
LINK to website
The South Yorkshire Anti-Racist Assembly met for the first time on 25th November 2024 with over 100 from all sectors to celebrate the SY ICS Trusts group commitment to anti-racism. Attendees also consulted with senior leadership and colleagues across the trusts, primary care, and VCSE around how we take this ambition forward in a meaningful way that does justice to those affected by individual and systemic racism in our health and care system. We heard updates on the work started by RDaSH and Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust (SHSC) after an opening of strong commitment by Gavin Boyle, CEO of the SY ICB. Powerful stories and information was shared, and we are committed to holding one another to account on our journey to becoming an anti-racist ICS.
Wellbeing and Inclusion monthly campaigns
We have Health & Wellbeing and EDI calendars which highlight the awareness campaigns we will focus on throughout the year. We arrange webinars relevant to those topics and advertise on our platform of activities.
Information about each campaign is added to the webpages: Health & Wellbeing calendar webpage and EDI calendar of campaigns webpage.
Sleep wellbeing programme
- Comprehensive Sleep wellbeing website LINK
- Sleep School programme & platform – includes recordings of previous webinars, useful guides & an app. https://sy.sleepschool.org (password sy123).
- A series of webinars by Sleep School (5 year support)
- Sleeping Better During the Menstrual Cycle + interview with Dr Guy Meadows (43 staff attended – 103 booked on who receive the follow up email). Some staff are unable to attend but register to receive the follow up information and access to the video recording.
- Sleeping better with Neurodiversity + interview with Dr Guy Meadows (189 staff attended)
- Sleeping better in the Winter + interview with Dr Guy Meadows (68 staff attended out of 157 who receive the follow up email).
Working closely with Sleep Charity – a national charity based in Doncaster.
AWARDS
- Employee Benefits Awards (2024): winner of Employee Benefits Professional of the Year
- Employee Benefits Awards (2024): highly commended in Best Healthcare and Wellbeing Benefits – large employer