DGT unveils new Health and Wellness Department

We are extremely proud to have officially launched our brand new Health and Wellness department at Darent Valley Hospital on Monday 4 July. 

Comprised of two existing teams, Occupational Health and Wellbeing, the department has undergone a positive transformation to become a single entity that offers holistic support to help staff stay well.

The physical and mental wellbeing of our workforce is absolutely crucial and plays an instrumental role in the quality of care we provide to our patients which is why the work of the Team is so important.

The new department has accomplished so much already, including achieving the Bronze award on the Kent and Medway Healthy Workplaces Programme. The Programme supports organisations of all sizes and sectors to meet the health needs of their workplace and allows them to find ways to be healthy at work. 

The award recognises our success in embedding a healthy workplace and we are now working towards the Silver award through pledges to cater to our staff’s needs across 8 themes including: mental wellbeing and stress, healthy eating and healthy weight, physical activity and active travel, stopping smoking and more.

In addition to this, we are working with the Wellbeing of Women charity and have signed the Menopause Workplace Pledge. An estimated 900,000 women in the UK have quit their jobs because of the menopause and as part of our commitment to support our staff at every stage of their career, we knew this was something we needed to sign up to.

Following the recent cost of living crisis, the Team has also set up an on-site ‘Caring is Sharing’ facility for staff to donate food, clothing, toiletries, and other items for the benefit of their colleagues. This has proven to be very successful and compliments our extensive range of staff health and wellbeing services offered by the department.

Leslieann Osborn - Director of Wellness and Engagement, and Polly Hird - Head of Health and Wellness, commented:  
“We are extremely proud of our Health and Wellness Team, their achievements over the years, their unwavering support to staff throughout COVID and now their enthusiasm, care and passion as we embark on this new stage of our journey, supporting our staff to stay well.”