Working for us

Talk to anyone who has used the NHS, and it is the people who looked after them that they will remember. Those working in the NHS will talk about the amazing people who provide care and treatment. We are proud to have been awarded a range of accreditation in recognition of our positive employment practice. Alongside being a Disability Confident Employer, we've also signed the Armed Forces Covenant and our People Strategy sets out our plan for delivering One Culture of Care for all our colleagues. 

 

Our Values and Behaviours

Our values will be at the heart of everything we do and how we treat each other. They have been developed with input from our colleagues and they provide essential guiding principles about the way that we work, set the tone for our culture, and identify what we care about.

They will help build a common purpose and understanding which will ultimately support inclusion, belonging and great working relationships.

You will see these values and behaviours pop up in your regular discussions with your manager, your appraisal, in recruitment, and your development. We will even be developing our own values and behaviours charter around how we want to support one another and our patients.

Find out more - Our Vision, Values and Behaviours - CHFT (cht.nhs.uk)

Our People Strategy

This People Strategy sets out our plan for delivering One Culture of Care for all our colleagues. It’s been co-created with feedback from colleagues who have told us ‘lets create an organisation that is known for One Culture of Care’. It’s a bottom-up, co-created, document that supports our patients, service users, colleagues and the community.

The People Strategy focuses on 6 main chapters.

  • Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
  • Health and Wellbeing
  • Engagement
  • Improvement
  • Talent Management
  • Workforce Design

One culture of care is about caring for each other in the same way we care for our patients.   That means that it is as important for us to look after ourselves and be kind and compassionate to our colleagues as it is to provide compassionate care to our patients.

If you need our Stratgey in an alternative format, please email engagementteam@cht.nhs.uk 

Staff benefits

Salary

  • Clear, transparent & rewarding pay structure, rising each year with your experience

Taking a Break

  • Excellent annual leave entitlement: 27 days, rising to 29 after five years’ NHS service and rising to 33 after 10 years’ service.
  • Career breaks available
  • Special leave policies (carers, compassionate, study, medical, public duties, jury, military)

Saving for Retirement

  • NHS Pension Scheme – excellent package of pension benefits, fully protected against inflation and guaranteed by the government
  • Flexible retirement scheme

Flexible Benefits

  • Car Scheme
  • Childcare (Childcare Vouchers for existing staff, Tax Free Childcare for new staff)
  • Cycle to Work Scheme

Training and Development

  • Professional leadership arrangements
  • Multi-disciplinary libraries and learning centres
  • Fantastic opportunities for enhancing your learning and development
  • Staff newsletter, intranet and internet access widely available
  • Mentors
  • Staff networks

Discounts

  • Variety of discounts from local attractions and businesses
  • Long service awards and gifts
  • Staff lottery

Health and Wellbeing

  • Occupational health service
  • Health and wellbeing support
  • 1 hour a week health and wellbeing
  • Wellbeing Ambassadors
  • Confidential staff counselling service
  • Flexible working practices
  • Chaplaincy service
  • Childcare facilities, including childcare teams, nurseries and out of school clubs
  • Membership and close working relationships with staff side organisations

The Workforce Benefits Services provides support and information for colleagues across the Trust. They administer all applications for maternity/paternity/shared parental leave/adoption leave and help staff access high quality, affordable childcare. There are a number of salary sacrifice/benefit schemes which are managed by the service, including the Car Scheme, Childcare (Childcare Vouchers for existing staff, Tax Free Childcare for new staff), and Cycle to Work Scheme.

The Benefits team also works with local business to offer colleague discounts from gym memberships to meals out. As a CHFT colleague you are also entitled to Health Service Discounts and the Blue Light Card.

Health and Wellbeing

Health & Wellbeing covers things like the quality and safety of our working environment, right through to how we feel about our work and our contribution to our organisation. Good health and wellbeing makes us more productive at work as well as being strongly linked to happiness and life satisfaction.

Good health and wellbeing results in better morale, involvement and motivation. If we are unwell, we’ll be supported to recover or to help us to not go off sick in the first place. We’ll be better at supporting people with disabilities or people who are at the older end of our workforce to continue to add their value and contributions.

From the outset, all new starters complete an occupational health questionnaire to ensure that any necessary adjustments are made to the working environment based on any mental or physical health issues or disability.  Ongoing, the Welling Advisers and Occupational Health are on hand to provide ongoing support for any acute or chronic health conditions that may arise during employment.

There is also a dedicated Health and Wellbeing space for colleagues to access to get support with a number of different services and advice, including smoking cessation, sleep, increasing physical activity, mindfulness, mental health support and specific men and women’s health.

Our one culture of care is able ensuring we wrap support arounds our colleagues and make it clear that it’s ok not to be ok and support is available when you need it.

Inclusivity and Staff Networks

We recognise that the people who work for us are our greatest asset and when they feel supported and happy in work this positivity reaches those very people we are here for patients.

We are committed to creating a more diverse and inclusive organisation and ensuring that we harness the talents of all our staff fully. One of the ways we wish to support this is through the development of specific staff networks that contribute to addressing and solving problems for all under-represented and disadvantaged groups and individuals within our organisation.

We believe our staff networks offer a place for staff to come together, share experiences and facilitate learning and development. Networks assist in the shaping and delivery of our strategies, policies and worked with us to improve staff experience.

We’re committed to ensuring Equality and Diversity (E&D) is at the heart of what we do at CHFT. That’s why E&D is one of our 6 priorties in our People Strategy.  

We are a Disability Confident employer where applicants who meet the minimum requirements of the role are guaranteed a job interview. CHFT engages with the disabled community too via Project Search; a Transition-to-Work Programme for young people with significant learning disabilities (school or college students who are in their last year of education). This is a business-led, one-year employment preparation programme that takes place entirely on our CHFT footprint with the aim of securing employment for 70% of the interns.

Here at CHFT our colleague voice is really important and that is why we have developed the following Networks:

Race Equality Network (Previously BAME)

The REN staff network believes that, in order for every individual to reach their full potential, there must be no fear of discrimination or prejudice and a belief that career opportunities or experience of work is not predetermined by ethnicity, nationality or colour REN Network members are from many different areas of the organisation and in various roles.

New members are encouraged to join and we hope that you will add your voice in supporting the Trust’s campaign to enhance the profile of its REN staff and patient community.

Watch this short video from our previous CEO Owen Williams about why the REN network is so important here at #TeamCHFT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmylYVvnemw&feature=emb_logo

Pride Network (previously LGBTQ+)

The Pride Network aims to be a place where we can ensure that our LGBTQ+ colleagues and allies have a safe space, a means of support, but also a voice in how the organisation supports the community. Whilst we are focused on the community, we recognise staff may contact the network for support when they have a LGBTQ+ relative or friend, and we actively encourage allies to join to widen the support network available to staff.

The main aim of our CHFT LGBTQ+ Pledge is to make a positive difference by promoting a message of inclusion. Once you’ve committed to signing the pledge you’ll receive a rainbow lanyard. Simple visible symbols, such as the lanyard, can make a big difference for those unsure of both themselves, and of the reception they will receive if they disclose their sexuality and/or gender identity.

Colleague Disability Action (CDAG)

The purpose of this group is to raise the voice of colleagues with disabilities, focus on ways that we can improve accessibility and remove barriers that impact disabled colleagues. We wish to have a safe space for disabled colleagues to discuss their experience and remove any barriers that we are in place to create an equitable workplace.

Armed Forces Network

We are proud to have signed the Armed Forces Covenant and currently hold Silver status on the Employer Recognition scheme and working hard to achieve silver status. We recognise the value serving personnel, veterans and military families bring to our workforce, and we commit to support the Armed forces community.

As an employer we support the Reserves by providing 5 days paid leave for all Reserves to support their training commitments. We also support the National Step into Health campaign. The aim of the programme is to highlight the many career opportunities available, particularly non-clinical roles, to the Armed Forces community and to support them in gaining employment within the NHS.

Deputy Director of Operations in Surgery, Jason Bushby, himself ex-Army, said: “After serving, it is increasingly apparent that on a national scale, some ex-servicemen and women now need support after serving, and we want every CHFT colleague to be reassured it is here for them. We have a professional counselling service which is there for everyone.”

Freedom to Speak Up

At CHFT listening to our staff are essential to us being an exceptional care provider and employer. To allow staff to voice any concerns we have encourage the ‘Freedom to Speak Up’. So whether you have a concern about risk, malpractice, wrongdoing or if something just doesn’t seem right we have a free and confidential way to report your concerns.

We have developed a team of Freedom to Speak up ambassadors who are always available to have a chat, should you have any concerns

International Colleagues Network

The aims of the network are to provide a safe environment for open discussion, to offer guidance and support to colleagues and to hear and learn from our colleague’s experiences. Starting a new job can be tough at the best of times and even more so starting in a whole different country. We want to ensure that the transition into a new role and new country is as smooth as possible and that our One Culture of Care is echoed throughout. It is also an opportunity for colleagues to learn about different backgrounds and cultures as we are lucky enough to have colleagues from all over the world.

Carers Peer Support Group

The Carers network was established last summer, and works as a peer support group for the attendees. We check in with each other, share experiences and signpost each other to helpful organisations/resources. Being an unpaid Carer increases the pressure, therefore our aim is to support our CHFT colleagues who are carers in every way we can, this includes highlighting the Carers passport, and raising awareness of the lived experiences of carers.

Women’s Voice Network

This is a relatively new network that was established at the beginning of 2021 after a really successful International Women’s Day. The group thought it was pertinent to not wait another year to come together again, but instead create a safe space to share experiences and support each other all year. Thus, Catherine Riley with the help of Gemma Cartman and Nikki Hosty from WOD founded the group. The forum is slightly different in that each session is based on a different topic with different speakers each time. Topic examples are overcoming imposter syndrome and menopause.

Videos

Find out what it’s like working as part of the team at CHFT.

Neeraj Bhasin

Neeraj Bhasin, Deputy Medical Director talks work, family and fabulous West Yorkshire and all it has to offer.

It's not just about building hospitals

Find out more about our plans for the future and what our new building are being designed to do and support.