What we did

We provided a pilot workplace health and wellbeing service for 50 staff based at the Northern General Hospital and Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield. This service was based on our own award-winning workplace health promotion programme.

The programme included individualised health checks, lifestyle management advice, one-to-one coaching and educational workshops to raise awareness on topics including exercise, healthy eating, mental wellbeing and resilience.

An evidence-based, client centred approach underpinned the one to one and group sessions to facilitate and support lifestyle related behaviour change.

The result

Staff overall health improved, including weight loss, increased fitness and reduced cholesterol. 87% of staff said taking part in the project boosted their motivation to make healthy lifestyle choices. 87% also made changes to their lifestyle, including exercise, healthy eating, weight management, reduced alcohol, mental wellbeing, back care and quitting smoking.

It's estimated that this workplace health and wellbeing study has saved Sheffield Teaching Hospitals £36,223 based on reductions in sickness absence alone. This was achieved at a cost of £13,200, providing a return on investment ratio of 1:3 - that's £3 saved for every £1 spent.

They say

The health and wellbeing of staff is a priority for any organisation, but particularly one whose core business is the delivery of healthcare.

Sheffield Hallam University's support has been invaluable in helping us understand the benefits of a structured health and wellbeing intervention both in terms of the holistic benefits to our staff and also the commercial benefits in terms of return on investment.

The success of our initial collaboration with Sheffield Hallam is leading to additional programs of work and research, and we now plan to build on the results of our pilot study by developing a protocol for a larger study to try and investigate the potential impact of a larger organisation intervention.

Dr Simon Till, consultant rheumatologist and sports physician, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals