Time to flex– embracing flexible working
Working in the NHS, we are reminded every day about how important life is. With this in mind, our aim is to be a more flexible and agile working organisation – a place where we can all talk openly about how we might be able to accommodate a range of flexible working arrangements, whether that’s job sharing, part time, compressed hours, variable hours or another flexible pattern. If it works for the service, we will all do our best to make it work for you.
When we think about flexible working, we may assume that it is just for people with care responsibilities – but it’s for anyone who wants work in a better way. Having a conversation about it can provide an opportunity to think creatively about whether your team should consider if its current arrangements work effectively, and whether things could be improved by working in a more flexible way – including increasing efficiency or creating capacity.
Adopting a more flexible approach not only helps individuals personally, but also helps them to do their best work to ultimately improve our services for patients.
Teams across Newcastle Hospitals are now reviewing and testing ways of working more flexibly, you can learn more:
How flexible working improved morale, wellbeing and the service in Occupational Therapy: How flexible working has improved morale, wellbeing and our service offer, by Odeth Richardson, Head of Occupational Therapy – Flourish at Newcastle Hospitals (mixd.co.uk)
How our district nursing team introduced flexible working for the benefit of staff and patients:
Additional information
NHS England and Improvement have created two flexible working guides, in collaboration with Timewise and NHS Staff Council. One for individuals and one for line managers.
The guide for individuals will help prepare staff for positive conversations to make requests about flexible working and provide staff with the best chance of agreeing a solution that works for them, their teams and their organisations.
The line manager guide offers support in how to lead a flexible team, helping managers to put structures and processes in place to support and encourage flexible workplace for all.
If you have any queries, please email [email protected]