Castlebeck service named as UK's top healthcare workplace
Castlebeck’s Briar Court service has been named as the best healthcare workplace in the UK in the prestigious Healthcare 100 Awards.
The service, which was featured in the top ten last year, took the top spot at the awards which names the best places to work in healthcare across the country.
Briar Court, in Hartlepool, County Durham, provides support for people with learning disabilities and complex needs who are being progressing along the path to more independent living. As well as the main accommodation part of the service, Briar Court also has an annexe called Bracken Lodge, which allows service users to live increasingly independently and as part of the community as their rehabilitation progresses.
The role staff play in this is key to their job satisfaction. In the completed questionnaires one says: “I’m given the opportunity to put into place interventions which rehabilitate and enable the residents to further their independence.”
The Healthcare 100 Awards recognise the top employers in healthcare and this year’s awards saw a 39 per cent increase in the number of organisations entering. The awards are based on the completion of confidential employee questionnaires which are completed by staff at services. The awards also look at and acknowledge the organisations’ human resources policies and practices through an employer survey.
Chief Executive of Castlebeck, Jon Mann, said: “Castlebeck specialises in providing support and rehabilitation for people with mental health needs or learning disabilities with complex needs and at the heart of everything we do are our service users and our staff.
“Our ethos is to provide person centred care with the opportunity to progress. To provide that level of support we need and indeed have an incredibly dedicated, talented and supportive workforce and I’m thrilled that their efforts have been recognised in such a prestigious way by this award.”
Five other Castlebeck services have also been recognised in the Top 100 ��“ they were Arden Vale, Meriden at number 7, Croxton Lodge, Melton Mowbray at number 12, Trinity House, Dumfries at number 17 all in the top 20 independent services and Cedar Vale in the East Midlands and Oaklands in Hexham in the top 50 independent services.
Castlebeck’s HR Director Sue Browell said: “Castlebeck has a staff charter that emphasises its commitment to being an excellent place to work, developing staff and making them feel valued as part of a team with respect for their contribution.”
In its report on the awards, the Healthcare 100, which is supported by the Health Service Journal and the Nursing Times, said: “Many organisations may have similar credos, but Castlebeck’s seems to deliver and to mean something to staff.
“One says that there is a “feeling of self worth with the company”.”
The report also draws attention to Castlebeck’s “exemplary training and development”. In their questionnaires staff at Briar Court often mention the opportunities for extra training they have been given, both internally and externally.
There are also opportunities to progress within the organisation, with one employee commenting that it is possible to make your way up the career ladder from support worker to hospital manager.
Castlebeck has its head office in Darlington, County Durham, and has hospitals and homes across the UK. It employs more than 2,000 staff across the country.
