Trust is shortlisted for two awards

York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has been shortlisted for two awards in this year's Nursing Times and Health Service Journal Awards.

In the Nursing Times Awards the Trust has been recognised intheExcellence in Supporting Staff Health and Wellbeing category for its sickness absence work which aims to nurture healthy staff.

This proactive approach to health and wellbeing has involved a wide range of interventions and support for staff and has dramatically reduced sickness absence rates since its introduction in 2008. Last year the project was rolled out across Scarborough Hospital, helping reduce long term sickness cases from 50 to 23 during its first two months alone.

In the Health Service Journal Awards the Trust has been shortlisted in the Workforce category for its Health Care Assistant (HCA) Recruitment and Retention initiative - a joint initiative between the HR and Nursing Directorates.

This was an innovative project, launched in March 2010, which reviewed the way in which Health Care Assistants were recruited to the Trust in order to improve retention rates.

A completely new way of recruiting Health Care Assistants was developed in order to inform them of the realities of the role. This focused on providing information for applicants prior to application, utilising values based recruitment as part of the selection process and comprehensively inducting new starters.

Peta Hayward, Director of Human Resources, said: "We are delighted to have been shortlisted for awards in both the Nursing Times and Health Service Journal Awards.

"Our staff are our most important asset and it is vitally important that we not only recruit the right staff into our organisation but that we nurture and support them to help create a healthy and happy workforce.

"Without staff that are fit and well to care at work we cannot deliver high quality patient care."

The winners of the 2012 Nursing Times Awards will be announced at an event in London on 31 October. The Health Service Journal Awards will take place on 20 November.