NORTHUMBRIA Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is to receive a £75,000 grant for a ‘real time’ staff experience programme.

The programme, which is unique in the NHS, received the grant as part of the Health Foundation’s Innovating for Improvement initiative.

It will be tested with Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust with a view to it being adopted by other NHS organisations.

Northumbria Healthcare’s ‘Happy, Healthy and Productive’ staff experience programme follows on from its nationally recognised, multi-award winning, patient experience work.

The idea is that happier, healthier employees are more likely to deliver a higher quality of care.

The innovative programme uses real-time data to show how supported, engaged and satisfied people feel at work; identifying areas for improvement.

Working in partnership with the Open Lab at Newcastle University, it uses software to survey and check the well-being of Northumbria Healthcare staff.

Annie Laverty, chief experience officer at Northumbria Healthcare said: “We are delighted to have been chosen by the Health Foundation to be part of their exciting Innovating for Improvement programme which will enable us to test and develop our approach and encourage wider learning across the NHS.

“As part of our on-going Northumbria Way campaign, the staff experience programme will help us to ensure we always have a positive working environment where our employees feel they can have a say in shaping our organisation for the better.

“There is a strong link between happy and healthy teams and the quality of care we provide. By regularly checking in with our staff we can fully understand their thoughts and expectations as well as use this information to help our teams to reach their full potential.”