Employee Connect Council
Our aim:
For our people to have a greater voice, participation and personal investment in our organisation and to help make gtd healthcare the best possible workplace.
How will the council achieve this?
Members of the Employee Connect Council will feed into the Our People's Trust Board and ensure that gtd healthcare is taking every opportunity possible to engage with our employees and wider workforce. This can be through decision making associated with the organisation’s business, or listening to new ideas or suggestions from our people.
Background
In conjunction with the Our People's Trust Board is the establishment of a staff council. This is called the Employee Connect Council, which comprises of elected employee representatives, whose aim is to ensure their colleagues’ voices are heard at the Our People's Trust Board.
Your Employee Connect Council representatives
Who are my council representatives?
- Gemma Jameson, senior communications officer and council chair.
- Ashley Madden, senior operations manager council representative.
- David Samms, care co-ordinator and council representative.
- Olivia Daley, payroll and pensions manager council representative.
- Tia Doodson, corporate affairs officer and council representative.
How do I contact the council?
You can contact us by:
- emailing gtd.staffcouncil@nhs.net;
- emailing a council representative directly;
- having a quick chat;
- arranging a meeting;
- completing a suggestion card;
- attending a drop-in session.
Learn more
Click here to find out more about what being part of the council means to your representatives.
A day in the life of a council member
Your council members have many roles and responsibilities. To find out more about what these entail, please click here.
Your suggestions
The council is an advocate for our people and has received a number of suggestions from across the organisation, which have been relayed to the appropriate departments and will facilitate an outcome accordingly.
Do you have a suggestion?
We value staff engagement and want you to play a role in the development of the council. Therefore, we have produced a suggestion card for you to share your thoughts, comments, and ideas on how to improve the organisation. To access the suggestion card see below.
Keep up-to-date with your suggestions
Please see below updates on your suggestions.
Last updated 14.2.2024
Complete
Receptionists and care co-ordinators’ uniforms
The people services team is pleased to announce that they have reviewed the available uniforms and sourced multiple options in new colours for receptionists and care co-ordinators.
Please see below the reasons for the review which were outlined in the suggestion cards:
- Lack of different options.
- No fleece during the colder months.
- The blouse is uncomfortable.
- No brand identity.
People services took this feedback onboard and sourced a sample of another blouse style, which was shared with key members of staff for comment. Meanwhile, they explored different colour and style options and how much it would cost to purchase uniforms with the organisation’s logo. Comments were feedback to people services including some suggestions from staff on how to improve the uniforms available. Following this, people services conducted further research into what could be available and reflected on the budget for the uniforms while having conversations with finance.
Please see below the new uniform options:
The uniforms available include:
- one top option;
- one fleece.
Moving forward, all new starters and current members of staff who need replacements will be able to choose one top option from the options above.
It was decided that it wasn’t cost-effective to pursue uniforms in the organisation’s colours with our logo on them as this was a substantial cost. However, people services has worked with corporate affairs to source a company that can produce dementia friendly ID badges for patient-facing staff. If you need a new dementia friendly ID badge, please contact people services.
If you have any questions or queries, please email gtd.hrstaff@nhs.net.
Tea and coffee
The people services team has been working hard to research the cost of providing each gtd healthcare site with tea and coffee for its staff. The team estimated the costs and provided these to the finance team for review. It was decided that this was to be put on pause we are not able to take this forward at this time; however, it will be revisited later this year.
Lengths of service recognition
Staff will be recognised for the length of service to the organisation via a new ID badge and letter of acknowledgement. People services is looking into the process of how to identify the lengths of service via i-Trent and will build a new system that will alert them. However, this is a bigger project and will take some time to develop the system. The corporate affairs team is looking into how the design of the ID badges will look and via the council will share the designs with staff soon.
Guide dog-friendly bins
The Clinical Hub wanted new bins so a staff member's guide dog could be in the area without smelling food in the bin. The council have placed an order to replace the bins with more sturdier ones and also replace the broken bins around head office.
Provision of cutlery
The council liaised with the relevant operations manager who ordered new cutlery, glasses, plates and bowls as there were no forks or glasses available at head office.
Car parking
The council has contacted numerous councils and hospitals to review the parking and see if gtd healthcare can offer subsidised parking. Information regarding available parking facilities and permits will be displayed on the Community Board soon.
If you wish to discuss a suggestion in more detail, please email gtd.staffcouncil@nhs.net.
Wellbeing gift voucher
Colleagues from different corners of the organisation are continuing to benefit from a wellbeing initiative, which aims to boost staff morale.
Every month all employed members of staff are entered into a prize draw to be in with a chance of winning one of three wellbeing gift vouchers. The vouchers up for grabs include one £50 voucher and two £25 vouchers of your choice.
March’s lucky winners are:
- Lorraine Harris, Advanced Clinical Practitioner at Chorley Hospital and Royal Preston Hospital: £50
- Andrew Bamford, Care Co-ordinator within the Clinical Hub: £25
- Gail Sharp, Senior Advanced Clinical Practitioner at Oldham Digital Hub: £25
The winners have been contacted via email. However, please keep in mind that this may end up in your junk inbox so we may also send a message via MS Teams. Please inform Tia Doodson, corporate affairs officer and council representative, of which gift voucher you would like before Friday, 22 March. Any responses received after this date will be ordered in the last week of the following month.
To view the full list of winners, please click here.
If you have been listed above but are yet to claim your voucher, please email tia.doodson1@nhs.net as soon as possible.
Wishing everyone good luck in next month’s draw!
