Staff Benefits

Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has a friendly atmosphere and excellent, wide-ranging benefits. For further information, contact HR Operations on 01753 634340.

Accommodation

The Trust provides staff accommodation, managed in partnership with a Housing Association landlord, London & Quadrant Housing Trust.

We rent family housing in order of priority, in the form of one and two bed flats and two and three bed houses plus single person housing in four person-shared flats at Wexham Park. All the accommodation is furnished and fully maintained at no extra cost. We also provide cleaning to communal kitchens and bathrooms and a large laundrette facility and extensive grounds within private residential areas. Residential parking permits are available via the Transport Office.

All enquiries regarding housing should be directed to Steve Hyland, the Trust's contracts manager, who will advise on rent, availability and make all the necessary arrangements with the landlord or visit the onsite London & Quadrant Housing Association.

Childcare support

Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is able to offer staff help and advice on a range of childcare issues, from information about childcare benefits to details about on-site nurseries and advice on flexible working.

Staff are also able to take advantage of a scheme with Computershare Vouchers Services, where payments can be taken directly from your salary in return for childcare vouchers. This will give you savings on your tax and national insurance contributions, and reduce the overall cost to you. For more information contact Karen Goodson on 01753 633325, or email karen.goodson@hwph-tr.nhs.uk.

The Trust also has two on-site nurseries for children aged between 3 months and 5 years.

The First Steps Day Nursery at Wexham Park is managed by the Trust and is open to staff only. The nursery is open from 6.50am to 6pm all year round excluding bank holidays and Christmas.

The Forest Lodge Nursery at Heatherwood is managed by a private company and is open to the local community. The nursery offers Trust employees a reduced rate and is open from 7.30am to 5.30pm all year round excluding bank holidays and Christmas.

Refreshments and shops

There is a subsidised staff restaurant at Wexham Park Hospital and a snack bar at Heatherwood Hospital, serving a variety of snacks, hot meals, salads and drinks. Both are open throughout the day. There are also a number of coffee bars and shops, as well as a number of vending machines, located around the hospitals.

Library and information services

The Trust’s library and information service provides the knowledge base for clinical and managerial decision making, patient care, education and research and development. There are branches at both Heatherwood and Wexham Park.

Health promotion

The Trust is committed to promoting a safe and healthy environment to its employees, patients and service users. We have adopted a non-smoking policy throughout the premises and grounds at all times. The Trust offers advice and support to help those who wish to quit smoking. Please contact occupational health for more information.

Counselling and support services

The Trust provides an Employee Assistance Programme available to all staff. They can be contacted by phone 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for completely free independent, confidential and off-site professional counselling.

Occupational health service

The health and wellbeing of the staff is of great importance and the Trust aims to ensure a healthy and safe working environment for all. The occupational health service aims to promote and maintain the health and well-being of staff. It offers a range of services and is a completely confidential service. All job applicants complete a health declaration form for screening prior to employment to ensure that individuals are physically fit to undertake the particular job that they have applied for.

Car parking permit

Staff may only apply for a parking permit if they live more than 1.5 miles from site and are a permanent member of either the Trust or Berkshire Healthcare Trust permanently based at Heatherwood or Wexham Park, however there are a few exceptions to this. If issued with a permit, you must only park in the designated staff spaces on each site. If you live on-site at either Heatherwood or Wexham Park Hospitals you may apply for a residents permit, which will entitle you to park in resident spaces.

Cycle to work scheme

As part of our Travel Plan and commitment to encouraging more sustainable transport to/from our sites, the Trust, in partnership with ‘Bikes for the NHS’, has established a 'Cycle to Work' scheme for staff.

The scheme aims to encourage and provide an incentive for staff to cycle to work, thereby improving health and fitness and helping to reducing congestion and environmental pollution.

Trust staff members who participate in the scheme will be able to purchase bicycles and cycling equipment such as helmets, locks, lights, clothing and panniers up to the value of £1,000 tax free. With other savings, including reduced National Insurance contributions, individuals could save up to 38% depending on their individual circumstances and existing rate of tax.

Should you have any general comments or queries regarding the 'Cycle to Work' scheme or cycling at the Trust in general, please e-mail travel.enquiries@hwph-tr.nhs.uk. If your query is more specifically related to the 'Cycle to Work' scheme, or you would like to join the scheme, please contact Bikes for the NHS directly on 0870 360 6323 or e-mail bikes@smehci.com.

Inter-hospital transport

The inter-hospital transport service between sites offers a minibus service for staff and transport for the movement of goods. The service runs between Wexham Park and Heatherwood hospitals, Monday to Friday, 7am to 7pm. Some of the services during the day will run directly between Wexham Park and Heatherwood Hospitals, while others also call at Upton and King Edward VII Hospitals.

Trust induction

All new staff are required to attend the mandatory trust induction / essential training programme during their first week with the Trust. The aim of the programme is to ensure that all new staff are appropriately trained in statutory and mandatory training topics before starting work within their department.

Flexible working

The Trust is committed to helping staff achieve the right balance between work and home. We offer a wide range of flexible working initiatives such as: flexitime, job share, self - rostering, career breaks, flexible retirement wherever service provision allows. The Trust will consider positively any request from a member of staff who wishes to work flexible hours, providing services are upheld.

Learning and development

Learning and development is encouraged and supported. Study leave may be granted for a learning / development activity that requires time away from work.

A variety of courses, such as IT skills, IT clinical systems training, presentation skills, customer care and management skills are all provided in-house by the training and development department. Individual development needs are formally identified at different points, starting with induction for new staff and then through the Trust’s appraisal system.

Appraisal system

All members of staff should receive an annual appraisal. During the financial year (April to March) your manager will meet with you, to discuss your performance and learning and development needs.

Skills for life and NVQ qualifications

The learning and development department is able to access skills for life assessments and subsequent training, if necessary, for any member of staff in the Trust, irrespective of job role or banding.

Skills for life training is currently funded by the Government and members of staff can achieve a nationally recognised qualification in literacy and / or numeracy. A wide range of NVQs are available for both clinical and non-clinical staff.

NVQs are vocational qualifications and, as such, the entire qualification is undertaken, in most cases, within the workplace. NVQs are nationally recognised qualifications and can often be used as entry criteria for other training courses / career development.

Some of the NVQs available include:

• Health (which includes many pathways and covers a wide variety of staff groups)
• Pharmacy Services
• Business Administration
• Customer care
• Team leading
• Management

Some funding is usually available for NVQs, but each case will be looked at individually.