Case Study: Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust boosts staff engagement with NHS Employers

Using listening exercises to improve staff engagement

Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, a large NHS trust in London, partnered with the vendor NHS Employers to enhance staff engagement and drive continuous improvement through its Fit for the Future programme. The challenge was to empower its 15,300 staff to raise and act on their own ideas to improve quality, safety, and efficiency, thereby influencing organizational culture and making practical changes.

NHS Employers supported the trust in implementing a large-scale "Changing things for the better" listening exercise. This initiative involved facilitated team conversations that encouraged staff to reflect on and plan improvements, focusing on local action. As a result of this solution from NHS Employers, the trust saw a steady improvement in organizational culture and achieved the highest ranking level of staff engagement in England for 2015 and 2016, with a score of 4.03 compared to the national average of 3.80. Nearly 2,000 staff participated, reporting renewed enthusiasm and many teams committing to local actions and repeating the activity.

Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust