NHS Trust signs Carers Charter for Carers Week
NHS Trust signs Carers Charter for Carers Week
Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust has become an accredited ‘Working for Carers’ employer, reaffirming its commitment to its staff who also have a caring role away from work
By signing the Charter the Trust will to continue to support the needs of carers across all levels of the organisation and encourage equality and diversity within teams and services. It will recognise staff who also have a caring role and support or signpost them to relevant help as and when required.
This week is national carers week and 3 in 5 people will be a carer at some point in their lives. A carer is someone who cares for another who cannot live without support. The support provided is unpaid and caring responsibilities are normally juggled with paid work.
Sarah Taylor-Robinson, Practice Facilitator and Be Carer Aware Champion for the Trust said: “Supporting working carers is one of our ‘Be Carer Aware’ high impact actions. I am delighted that we are making progress with this and that the Trust has taken the opportunity to lead by example by signing the Working for Carers Charter.”
Having support systems in place for carers ensures people can remain in work, also have a flexible work life balance where appropriate and that the Trust won’t lose highly skilled workers. The Trust has a number of health and wellbeing resources that currently support staff, such as mental wellbeing sessions, free counselling and flexible working policies.
As an accredited employer, support and resources available through Working for Carers will further enhance the Trust’s current health and wellbeing initiatives, helping to improve staff experience of working for the Trust and improve workforce retention rates.
Working for Carers is a not-for-profit initiative, run by a partnership of carer support charities including Worcestershire Association of Carers. For more information regarding Working for Carers, visit https://workingforcarers.co.uk/ or for further details on the Trust’s Working for Carers charter, contact the communication team on whcnhs.communications@nhs.net, or call 01905 681 770.