Working with East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust (EKHuFT) to develop ways to recognise staff who are Carers
1 in 3 NHS employees are Carers and juggle work with care. EKHuFT have recognised the importance of supporting staff who are Carers and CSEK are proud to work in partnership to support the development of this work.
What are EKHUFT doing to support staff who are carers?
EKHuFT have recognised that more needs to be done to support their staff who are carers and to help drive this work forwards have a working group, including representation from the wellbeing team, senior education and workforce leadership, Carers’ Support East Kent and, most importantly, staff whom are carers.
The Staff Carers Working Group is excited to announce some of the new initiatives coming into place to support colleagues across the organisation.
- Paid Carers Leave: following the Carers Leave Act, staff are now entitled to take a week of paid Carers Leave per dependent, search for the Special Leave policy on Staff Zone to find out more.
- Carer Passport: A straightforward way to document flexibility and support, which may be helpful for current and future roles and any changes in management. (available on Staff Zone and Vivup)
- Carers’ resources: we have a dedicated page on Vivup – Support for Carers – that will be regularly updated as the support offering grows.
- Carers Forum: we recognise the need for peer support amongst carers and working in partnership with Carers Support East Kent, we are launching the EKHUFT Staff Carers Forum – a space to come together with fellow carers and find out about support on offer. The Carers’ Forum will launch on Tuesday 11 June, from noon to 1pm, as part of Carers Week. To receive an invite email ekhuft.wellbeing@nhs.net
This is just the start of work to support staff who are carers and there are many more initiatives in the pipeline. If you’d like to find out more about the work that is happening email ekhuft.wellbeing@nhs.net