Case Study: University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust improves retention with NHS Employers OD support

Retention from an organisational development perspective

University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust worked with NHS Employers to tackle staff retention from an organisational development perspective. The trust, which employs over 9,000 staff, wanted to understand why employees were leaving and what would improve staff experience, using NHS Staff Survey data, the Staff Friends and Family Test, and staff focus groups to identify key issues.

NHS Employers supported the trust in developing trust-wide interventions around appraisals, leadership behaviours, bullying and harassment, and recognition, including a new e-appraisal process, updated policies, leadership behaviour workshops, and a recognition framework. The results included improved staff engagement, better scores for communication and appraisals, more staff contributing to improvements at work, and a reduction in permanent staff turnover from 13.3% in September 2016 to 12.8% in September 2017.

University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust