A project helping to support Stockport NHS staff experiencing the menopause has won a national NHS Communications award.
Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Stepping Hill Hospital and local community NHS services in the area, has triumphed in the ‘Communications Team Health and Wellbeing’ category of the NHS Communicate Awards 2024 for their project promoting specialist menopause support for those working within their services.
Menopause is something the majority of women experience in their lives, and can result in prolonged periods of sickness or even employees leaving an organisation, where symptoms are unmanageable.
With the demographics of the NHS workforce, the menopause will inevitably have a greater impact than in other areas of the UK working population. At Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, 44% of staff are women aged between 45 and 64 years old.
Retaining staff, and managing staff health and wellbeing is of critical importance, and as a result, a menopause working group was launched. The communications team was asked to join and has heavily influenced the direction of the group in terms of sharing information with staff and encouraging the group to go further in their support of colleagues.
The communications team used a number of methods to help promote the new service to staff, including a specialist Staff Facebook group for menopausal women, and a regular menopause blog from a member of the trust’s board of directors, highlighting the extra support on offer.
They also helped to set up a monthly menopause café and a regular ‘Schwartz round’ where colleagues could meet and share their experiences. Having new forums where colleagues could share difficult symptoms provided reassurance and the ability to give each other mutual support.
The team have also helped to support the service via promotion on social media, and in both regional and national media too.
Together with an innovative new specialist staff menopause clinic, the new approach has resulted in a huge improvement in the support given to staff experiencing the menopause.
Head of Communications Helen O’Brien said “Bringing a new level of support for those experiencing the menopause has been both the right thing to do for our colleagues, and will also help us all to be more productive and provide the best care we can. The Communications team has been proud to help promote this new support to our colleagues, and we’re thrilled to have been recognised by the NHS Communicate Awards for our efforts.”
The winners were announced at the NHS Communicate Conference and Awards, a virtual event held on March 7th and hosted by comedian Jo Caulfield. It was an opportunity to celebrate the best in NHS communications across the country and throughout the year.