Work perks

Derbyshire Healthcare Foundation Trust can offer a generous relocation package of up to £8,000 to support your move to beautiful Derbyshire. Details of how you can take advantage of this offer are available through the People Resources team on application. Please indicate your interest in this offer during the application process.

The salary sacrifice scheme enables you to lease a car through Derbyshire Healthcare and pay for the lease rentals through your monthly salary. The Trust's car lease scheme is provided by GMP Drivercare.

The lease deduction is made from your salary pre-tax which makes your car acquisition plan much more attractive than buying the vehicle outright or applying for a bank loan.

To find out more, please visit: www.gmpdrivercare.co.uk

Save money, get fit and reduce your carbon footprint with Derbyshire Healthcare’s ‘Bikes for Staff’ scheme!

Derbyshire Healthcare employees have the opportunity to take advantage of the government’s tax-free ‘Cycle to Work’ initiative.

The scheme allows members of staff to make savings of up to 35% on a bicycle along with safety and security accessories of their choice, to a maximum value of £1,000, which will be paid for through easy monthly payroll reductions.

The monthly payments are spread out over the year and the savings are made through paying reduced income tax, National Insurance and *NHS pension contributions.

"I applied and bought a bike through the scheme as it represented good value and enabled me to ride to work and also use it at work, attending local meetings and visiting service receivers within the Derby area."
D. Szrejder

*The new NHS Pension changes which come into force as of April 2015 Salary Sacrifice - implications for 2016 Pension Scheme members - In a Career Average Revalued Earnings (CARE) scheme, like the 2016 NHS Pension Scheme, pension benefits are built up on a year-by-year basis based on your actual pensionable earnings in each year. Therefore entering into any salary sacrifice arrangement (e.g. Childcare Vouchers, Lease Car Schemes etc) that reduces your gross pensionable earnings will have a negative effect on the amount of pension you are able to build up in that year. The overall effect from participating in any salary sacrifice scheme would be to reduce the amount of final benefits you earn.

Balancing finances and juggling debt can be a significant worry and cause of stress, potentially affecting sleep, general wellbeing and even performance at work.

The Trust's employee assistance programme, run by Confidential Care, offers debt and financial management support. Confidential Care is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Money Saving Expert provides a free Mental Health & Debt guide - a 44-page booklet supported by Mind, Rethink, CAPUK and others, for people with mental health problems and those caring for them.

It includes advice on how to manage debts when unwell, how to work with banks, how to obtain free debt counselling, specific tips for bipolar disorder or depression sufferers, whether to declare a condition and more.

Whilst the guide is aimed at people experiencing mental health problems, it may also be useful for anyone experiencing financial difficulties or in helping others to manage their finances.

Listed below are a number of links to the latest discounts and benefits offered to all Derbyshire Healthcare employees (and, in some cases, to friends and relatives)

Connected Benefits

Connected Benefits is one of the UK’s leading providers of innovative employee benefits schemes. Customers include both public sector and private sector organisations with more than 200 NHS trusts benefiting from their services.

Blue Light Card

The Blue Light Card was founded in 2008 with the intention of providing discounts to the emergency services and NHS both on the high street and online. The Blue Light Card aims to provide high street discounts on a national basis and provide all members of all services with an equal chance to save no matter what job role or service that they work for.

Costa Coffee

10% discount with your ID badge (not eligible at all stores, please check).

East Midlands Designer Outlet (Mcarthur Glen)

As an NHS member of staff you can pick up a Privilege Card from the Customer Service Desk which entitles you to an extra 10% discount at a range of designer brands. Staff will need to present their NHS ID card.

Eye Test

Staff that use display screen equipment for extended periods of time, for most days that they work, have the right to request an eyesight test at an optician of their choice. Paid time off work to attend such eyesight tests will be provided or arrangements made for tests to be carried out in the workplace.

National Health Service Discount Scheme

Health Service Discounts is one of the UK's leading providers of NHS discounts providing staff discounts, offers and deals to all NHS employees, former staff and Foundation Trust members.

Red Guava

The site contains a range of discounts including days out such as Alton Towers, Legoland, fashion and insurance etc.

PS Discounts

Register for PS Discounts and save on your supermaket spending. This is an exclusive benefit available to NHS employees.

You can save on your supermarket spending in the following ways:

1. Earn cashback when you shop online at Tesco, Waitrose, Morrisons and Iceland by clicking through the links to online retailers
2. Use a PS Discounts Black Prepaid MasterCard to save up to 5% cashback when shopping in-store and online at Asda, Sainsbury's and Waitrose.
3. Get up to 15% discount on retail vouchers and gift cards - includes Sainsbury's, Morrisons, M&S and more.

Topps Tiles

10% discount to NHS staff (just need to show your ID before they do the bill / invoice).

Vodafone Advantage Scheme

Vodafone Advantage is offering money off Pay monthly bundles for you, plus five family members and friends.

West End Theatre

London Theatre tickets offers discounts for West End shows plus theatre news, reviews, offers, cheap tickets and discounts to musicals and plays.

Westfield Health 

We’ve teamed up with Westfield Health to offer all staff a health cash plan at a rate which is 17% cheaper than if you were to buy the equivalent plan direct from Westfield Health. Level 4, their most popular level of cover, is just 71p per day.

Company Shop

Company Shop eligibility;

To qualify for Company Shop Limited membership, applicants must:

• Be over 18 years of age.
• Either be employed by, or are retirees of our partners, OR
• Work in the emergency services – including the fire brigade, police and the NHS.

The following flexible working opportunities are available to all Derbyshire Healthcare employees.

Voluntary Part-Time Working

Voluntary part-time working is available to all staff regardless of their role, area of work or length of service with the NHS and gives you the opportunity to volunteer to reduce your weekly hours of work. Part-time working hours are weekly hours of work that are anything below 37.5 hours a week.

When considering voluntary part-time working you will need to think about how a reduction in your weekly hours of work would affect your pay, leave entitlement and pension.

Career Breaks 

Derbyshire Healthcare recognises the need for staff to balance paid work with other commitments and responsibilities and is able to offer employees who have a minimum of 12 months’ continuous service with the NHS the opportunity to access a career break.

A career break enables you to take an unpaid break from your employment with the Trust for a variety of reasons in order to fulfill other responsibilities, commitments and ambitions, for example for carer’s responsibilities, training, study or time off to travel.

The minimum length of a career break is three months and the maximum length is five years. Breaks will normally be taken in a single period during any one year, however you may seek to agree more than one period. You should ideally give three months’ notice before the start of the break.

A career break cannot normally be allowed to take up paid employment with another employer except where, for example, work overseas or charitable work could broaden experience. Career breaks for these reasons will be considered on an individual basis and on their merits.

How does a career break work?

You can choose to either take an unpaid period for the duration of the career break or spread the cost over a number of months, providing this is within the financial year of 1 April to 31 March. This way you will continue to receive a regular income on a monthly basis. If you choose to spread the cost over a number of months and do not return to work for the Trust at the end of the break you will be required to pay the outstanding balance to the Trust on your last day of employment.

You will continue to be an employee of the Trust during the length of the career break. However, for the purpose of calculating entitlements to sickness, maternity, paternity, adoption, annual leave, contractual redundancy pay and increment dates, periods of service before and after the break will be treated as continuous.

The period of the break will not count as reckonable service for pension purposes. Further advice can be sought from the local Pensions Department on how this may affect your NHS pension.

At Derbyshire Healthcare we have a simple philosophy when it comes to your health and wellbeing. We believe that work should benefit your health, not challenge it.

This is why we consider staff health and wellbeing throughout every aspect of our organisation and the work we do, which is reflected in our aspirations to consistently score top in the staff survey for employee engagement and organisational focus on staff wellbeing.

We ensure this focus through a dedicated Staff Wellbeing Team that oversees our strategy and links in with HR and operational colleagues to make sure your health is looked after during all your time with us.

We place a particularly big focus on your mental health. Working in the NHS can be stressful, so we have various functions in place to look after your emotional wellbeing. We offer stress management and resilience training, Schwartz Rounds and a host of self-care tools and resources.

We are also signed up with Time to Change and Mindful Employer and promote Time to Talk campaigns. We have an on-site counselling service, called Resolve, where you can self-refer for free, impartial and entirely confidential 1-1 talking therapies. This is also available for issues outside work, not just work-related challenges.

For your physical health we have a specialist staff physio, health MOTs, and regularly run classes, running groups and staff challenges.

When you arrive at the Trust you will meet our Staff Wellbeing Team at your induction. Team members will talk you through everything that is available to you. When you arrive at your new base you can meet your local Staff Wellbeing Champion (we are always looking for new champions if you’re interested) who will help you settle in and find out what is available to you. For example, our intranet pages full of resources and signposting to support your wellbeing. If there’s anything you aren’t sure about or anything that you feel is missing from the Staff Wellbeing Team offer, you only have to ask. Our service is here to support you and is only ever a phone call away.

At the Trust we also have a wide range of additional staff benefits for you to take advantage of. You can 'salary sacrifice' with cycle to work or even on home electronics, and you can get reduced memberships at hundreds of gyms too. 

All Derbyshire Healthcare employees, Trust volunteers and students on clinical placements within the Trust will have access to the Library and Knowledge Service based at Kingsway Hospital in Derby.

Services available:

• Book loans - Registered users may borrow up to 10 books at any one time for a period of four weeks. Books may be renewed up to a maximum limit of five times, but are subject to recall if required by another borrower.
• Library catalogue - To find out what books and e-books are available, renew your books and request or reserve books, please visit the library catalogue 
• Journal articles - Use Browzine to locate and access e-journal articles we subscribe to.
• Book and journal requests - If you cannot find the book or journal article you're looking for, the Library and Knowledge Service can usually obtain them for you through other routes.
• Evidence searching – The Library and Knowledge Service provides an evidence search service to identify journal articles and other evidence to support your work and study. 
• Electronic resources - A wide range of resources including journals, e-books, databases and alerting services, are available. 
• An OpenAthens account is needed to access these resources.
• The Knowledge and Library Hub is a one stop search for high quality knowledge and evidence resources all in one place.

Where can you find us?

The Library and Knowledge Service is based at the Ashbourne Centre, Kingsway Hospital, in Derby. 

The Library and Knowledge Service will deliver a remote service using electronic resources and the postal system for all Derbyshire Healthcare staff.

Staffed opening times:

Monday to Friday, 9.30am - 4.30pm

Out-of-hours access is available with a swipe card from 6.30am to 7.30pm, 7 days a week.

Contact us: dhcft.kingsway.library@nhs.net

The Occupational Health (OH) Service aims to deliver a high-quality service that meets the needs and expectations of all Derbyshire Healthcare employees. The service is provided by a team of OH doctors, specialist nurses and OH nurses, led by a Consultant in Occupational Medicine in conjunction with a Lead Nurse and supported by admin and clerical staff.

Confidentiality

Employees who are in need of help and advice may self-refer to an OH nurse. All consultations remain completely confidential, and no information will be relayed to management unless the employee requests this.

Service delivery

The OH team provides a wide range of services which are designed to protect, maintain and promote the health, safety and wellbeing of employees at work. 

Immunisations and vaccinations

When you begin working for the Trust, the OH team will assess which vaccinations and immunisations you need for your role and ensure you are up to date.

Health screening

Health screening includes the pre-employment process, where a person is cleared to work for the Trust through a new-starter appointment. This is usually within four weeks of starting at the Trust.

Unless prior immunity can be proven, employees are tested for immunity to MMR and chickenpox. If you have lived outside the UK for an extended period in a country which is high risk for TB, more extensive tests may be required, such as a blood test and chest x-ray to rule out latent and active TB infection.

For administrative staff who regularly use a computer, there’s also a display screen equipment (DSE) eye test.

It is vital to attend a health screening appointment to ensure your health, safety and wellbeing whilst at work. Managers are responsible for ensuring that staff can be released to attend their appointment.

Management referral and self referral

All members of staff are expected to be committed to providing an efficient and effective service to patients of the Trust. The commitment to attend work is integral to this aim.

In return, managers will provide any reasonable support, advice and guidance to enable staff to do this and will be supportive if staff are unable to attend work due to illness.

The Trust supports managers and employees by providing relevant medical information to reduce the likelihood of absence and help facilitate return to work. This support can be accessed by completing a Management Referral Form. Additionally, employees can self-refer to Occupational Health via telephone.

Health checks

Did you know you can have a free and confidential health check with the Occupational Health department at any time?

This 30-minute assessment includes information and advice on: 

• Height, weight, body mass index (BMI)
• Waist measurement
• Blood pressure
• Urine analysis
• Advice/support on individual health
• Health education material specific to your results.

NHS Pension Scheme

The NHS Pension Scheme is one of the most generous and comprehensive in the UK. Every new employee of Derbyshire Healthcare automatically becomes a member and you will get an excellent package of pension benefits, fully protected against inflation and guaranteed by the Government.

Pension scheme benefits

All Derbyshire Healthcare employees are eligible to be part of the NHS Pension Scheme. The Trust contributes 14% of an employee’s pensionable pay and, from day one in the scheme, you have life cover of a minimum of two years' gross salary. You will automatically become a member on joining the Trust, unless you inform us otherwise.

If you would like further information or advice on the NHS Pension Scheme, transfers from other pension schemes, or forms to nominate recipients of life assurance payment [DB2] or a partner pension nomination form [PN1], please contact the Pensions Department on 01332 258100.

The Trust has access to a local NHS Pensions Advisory Service. This service is based at London Road Community Hospital in Derby.

For more information on the NHS pension scheme, please visit www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/pensions

Preparing for retirement

There are two training courses available to help Derbyshire Healthcare employees prepare for retirement. They are called 'Mid-Career Pensions' and 'Preparation for Retirement'. For more information and to register, please visit the Trust's training directory via the intranet.

After retirement

The NHS Retirement Fellowship is the social, leisure, educational and welfare organisation for current and retired NHS and social care staff and their partners. It provides an opportunity for retirees to meet and spend time with other like-minded people, to enjoy existing friendships, make new friends and enjoy themselves together. Find details about your local branch at www.nhsrf.org.uk or call 0800 915 1455.