Two years on: permanent wellbeing hubs for our NHS staff
Thanks to generous donors to our Covid-19 emergency appeal, we’ve created a wellbeing hub at each hospital for staff to relax, as part of a £4.5m wellbeing package.
E-bikes for staff during Covid-19 pandemic
With fears around Covid-19, many NHS staff are finding other ways to get to work that don’t involve public transport.
In response, £27,000 funding from our Covid-19 emergency appeal has been used to buy new Brompton electronic bikes for Staff at St Bartholomew’s Hospital.
The bikes provide motorised assistance when needed, which means they’re accessible for staff who have longer commutes or physical disabilities.
Samantha, the Associate Director of Nursing Cardiology at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, says of the e-bikes: “I have a hip replacement on the right side and a hip problem (likely to need a replacement in the near future) on the other. I love the freedom of cycling but I would not be able to cycle into London regularly with my current hip issues. This takes away most of the effort.”
Samantha considered using public transport her highest risk activity and felt rising anxiety every time she used it. The e-bike alleviated this, as well as providing mental health benefits from regular exercise.
NHS Staff member with one of the Brompton e-bikes
"Having a low impact exercise option available to me with the e-bike has done wonders for both my physical and mental health. I love it."Samantha, Associate Director of Nursing Cardiology
More storage and long term bike plans
Our funding will also help increase capacity of existing bike storage facilities and provide new secure storage for staff. Weatherproof storage will only be accessible via a swipe card to help reduce incidents of theft.
Following Covid-19 lockdowns the bikes will remain at Barts Health NHS Trust providing benefits for staff and patients for years to come. Some of the bikes will be become part of a cycle library, helping staff to travel between hospitals and to partner sites in the community. Other e-bikes will be used as part of a rehabilitation scheme for cardiac patients. The electronic assistance of the bikes will help cardiac patients build up strength gradually.
Jonathan Kelly, Divisional Manager at Barts Heart Centre who led the initiative, says: “NHS colleagues and other key workers are clearly voting with their feet quite literally to walk and cycle more to work. We are grateful to Barts Charity as well as to British Cycling and Brompton Bicycles for supporting this e-bike initiative, it will provide support to colleagues travelling during the pandemic but also have a wonderful legacy that we have plans to build on.”
We’re grateful to all supporters of our Covid-19 emergency appeal for helping staff and patients during the pandemic.
One of the Brompton e-bikes for NHS staff
Update on wellbeing support for NHS staff following Covid-19 emergency appeal
The Covid-19 pandemic placed NHS staff under extreme pressure and our supporters donated to help. Improvements for NHS included:
- extensive upgrade to staff facilities across the hospitals.
- permanent wellbeing hubs for staff in each hospital.
- new Psychological Support Service established providing a dedicated psychologist to support staff at each hospital.
Continue to support Barts Health by donating today.
