Trust first in north to become Carer Confident Ambassador

Our Trust has become the first NHS Trust in the north of England to achieve Carer Confident Ambassador status.

In Carers Week (9 – 15 June), we were awarded the benchmark by Employers for Carers, making us only the third NHS Trust in the UK to receive the certificate. The certificate is presented to employers who have demonstrated that they have built an inclusive workplace where carers are recognised, respected and supported.

There are three levels of Carer Confident status, with Level 3: Ambassador being the highest. In our assessment,  we scored 130 points out of a possible 145.

To achieve the status, we evidenced how the Trust provides a wide range of information and support for carers throughout their caring journey, supports carers at all stages of employment, enables and encourages carers to take up practical support both from within and outside the organisation, and champions caring and carers internally and externally.

The Trust’s support for staff carers includes a successful and supportive staff carers’ network, awareness training highlighting the need to identify staff carers, and a staff carer passport, which supports staff to have a meaningful conversation with their manager about their caring responsibilities.

Gillian Cowell, carers project manager at the Trust, said: “We are really pleased and proud to have met the level 3 criteria, demonstrating how much families and carers matter at our Trust. Our feedback report praised the proactive and imaginative approaches we have taken to encourage carers to identify themselves and come forward for support. We are looking forward to continuing to improve further based on the feedback and guidance we have received.”