South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SWYPFT) employs over 4,000 dedicated professionals and is recognised as one of the top NHS trusts to work for. Despite their commitment to employee health and wellbeing, increasing service demands and financial challenges highlighted the need for a shift in focus. SWYPFT sought to move beyond reducing sickness absence to embrace a holistic approach to employee engagement, health, and wellbeing.
The existing NHS staff survey was unable to capture the nuanced drivers and barriers to wellbeing, making it difficult to foster cultural change. SWYPFT set clear goals to identify sources of stress, highlight areas of positive wellbeing, and implement actions that would support sustainable improvement across the workforce.
In partnership with Robertson Cooper, SWYPFT adopted a comprehensive, long-term approach to mental health and wellbeing.
Key actions included:
Insights from the Good Day at Work survey revealed key strengths at SWYPFT, including above-average scores for work-life balance, pay and reward, and workplace relationships. However, the survey also identified challenges, such as nearly 50% of staff experiencing major stressful events, with 66% of those events being work-related.
Within six months, SWYPFT achieved measurable improvements:
These early results exceeded expectations and underscored the transformative impact of SWYPFT’s partnership with Robertson Cooper on employee wellbeing and organisational performance.