FAQs for the NHS Healthy Workforce Survey
If you don't find the answer you are looking for here, please email the support team at NHS England at daniel.berry@nhs.net or eric.barratt2@nhs.net. Alternatively, you can send any questions or comments to NHS_support@rand.org.
1. What is the NHS Healthy Workforce Survey?
a) The NHS Healthy Workforce Survey is part of a larger drive by the NHS to improve and promote staff health and wellbeing. It is delivered in partnership with RAND Europe. It is an online survey offered to all staff, sent by email in May 2016. NHS England would really like staff to participate, but it is entirely voluntary.
b) By participating, NHS organisations will gain a better understanding of the health risks affecting their employees, how these change over time, and their associated health and other organisational impacts.
c) The research also looks at how employers, through the workplace, can support their employees to be healthier and more productive. Participating NHS organisations will receive specific recommendations on how to improve the health, wellbeing and productivity of their workers. NHS Healthy Workforce keeps all personal data confidential and will not publicise any personal data.
d) Employees will complete an Employee Health Assessment, which will ask questions about their general health, lifestyle behaviours, mental health status, and their work environment. This is done by following a link sent in an email. It should take about 15 minutes to complete.
e) Once the survey is completed, each employee will receive a Personal Health Report. We know from previous surveys that staff find this immediate feedback really helpful.
f) The NHS Healthy Workforce Survey also aims to provide a better understanding of the health risks faced by NHS organisations, with specific emphasis on the impact of chronic diseases, as well as to understand how the workplace can be used to support employee health. The survey also looks at the availability of wellness facilities in the workplace and how often employees engage in healthy behaviour and activities.
g) For NHS organisations, the NHS Healthy Workforce survey will result in a tailored recommendations report to improve the health risk profile of an organisation’s employee population.
2. How does it work?
a) Employers complete the online Organisational Health Assessment, which will include questions about employee demographics, leadership culture, the work environment, and the health and wellbeing initiatives currently in place.
b) Employees are invited to complete the online Employee Health Assessment. This asks questions about general health, lifestyle behaviours, mental health and work environment. To be eligible for participation, employees must be at least 18 years of age.
3. When will NHS Healthy Workforce take place?
a) Surveys will be open in May 2016 and will be open for around 3 weeks.
b) In September 2016, participating organisations will receive an Organisational Health Report which will provide them with a holistic view of their employees' wellbeing, as well as unique benchmarking information that can be used to inform future HR and People strategies.
4. Will you publish my organisation’s name?
NHS England would like to name the organisations that participate, as this would be useful for the wider NHS to see. However, organisations can be listed anonymously if they wish.
5. How confidential is my data and feedback?
NHS Healthy Workforce keeps all personal data confidential and will not publicise any personal data. More specific detail on this is provided in the Useful Information section.
6. What will you do with my organisation’s results?
a) The data from employers and employees will be used to compile an Organisational Health Report, and provide recommendations on how to improve the health, wellbeing and productivity of employees.
b) In addition, results will be used to compile research on the health of all participating NHS organisations.
7. Will you use my organisation’s details for anything other than this study?
All information submitted through the initiative will be used only for the purposes of the NHS Healthy Workforce Survey and will not be used for marketing purposes.
8. How much will it cost to take part?
It costs nothing to take part in NHS Healthy Workforce. NHS England is funding this survey.
9. Not all my employees have access to email or the internet, what do I do now?
Employees will be asked to confirm their full work email address to verify their participation. Using work email addresses helps with analysis, although participants may also be able to use a personal email account.
10. Who do I contact if I have further questions?
If you have any queries, please email the support team at NHS England at daniel.berry@nhs.net or eric.barratt2@nhs.net. Alternatively, you can send any questions or comments to NHS_support@rand.org.