OurSpace, a dedicated hub for staff, volunteers and clinical students recently opened at Northampton General Hospital during Mental Health Awareness Week.
OurSpace is a permanent 24/7 area for colleagues to access to relax and recharge.
The project was partly funded by Northamptonshire Health Charity, thanks to a generous grant from NHS Charities Together, that enabled us to contribute nearly £46,000 towards creating the hub.
It offers space for quiet reflection and access to health and wellbeing services and support.
It opens following a year of planning and dedication from numerous teams within the hospital.
Heidi Smoult, Chief Executive at NGH said:
I’m so proud of all our teams who have worked together to give our staff, volunteers and students a permanent home specifically for their wellbeing.
Self-compassion is vital to us being the best we can be and it’s important that by creating this space our people will understand that their wellbeing is crucial.
If our people feel safe and valued, they will thrive and ensure we are providing the best care to our local community.”
Tracey Robson, People Director at NGH said:
I am truly excited about the completion and opening of OurSpace.
This enables our incredible Health & Wellbeing (H&W) team to have the space they need to deliver their service in a proactive way.
Our incredible H&W team has pioneered the standard for staff support at NGH and this building will really make a difference to how they continue to deliver the standard of support they have created.”
Our Head of Fundraising, Alison McCulloch said:
It is with thanks to the grant from NHS Charities Together that we have been able to contribute to this project to enhance the provision of wellbeing initiatives for staff at NGH.
It’s so wonderful to see this project come to life and to know what a difference has been made from charity donations, to the wellbeing of our local NHS teams being able to access this facility.” Dr Claire Hallas, Group Head of Health and Wellbeing, and Consultant Psychologist said:
This marks an inspiring year-long journey for the Health and Wellbeing services at NGH.
The opening of OurSpace shows our commitment to deliver high quality support to staff who are working tirelessly to support the recovery of the NHS system and provide excellence in patient care following the pandemic.
We wish OurSpace every success and we will continue to deliver on provding gold standard services for staff, to show them our compassion, commitment and respect for their service to NGH.”
Moya Flaherty, OurSpace Project and TRiM Incident & Peer Support Service (SoS) Lead said:
I cannot express in words how pleased I am that this project has come to life, and we are now welcoming our staff into the building.
Our staff are the absolute heart of the hospital and to have a facility especially for them is fantastic.
For me, this is an example of where we are truly living our values, that our staff are important, and we are valuing their health and wellbeing by providing an appropriate space for our services.
Staff can also come 24/7 to relax and recharge away from their work areas.”
It is always wonderful to be able to demonstrate how much of a big difference charitable donations can make to our local NHS staff and the patients they treat.
We would like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to NHS Charities Together, and to all of their donors and fundraisers, for helping to make this happen.
Find out how you can make a donation or get involved to support our local NHS hospitals and community services.