Working for longer (University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust)

University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust (UHDB) developed a ‘working for longer’ project, to support its staff to stay in work for longer. Over 15 months from January 2019 the workforce transformation team, which oversees the project, has introduced several initiatives to support the retention of older workers.

The project ran at the same time staff were going through a merger of two trusts. Despite this, turnover has decreased and UHDB has one of the lowest turnover rates of nurses in the region.

  • Overall staff turnover has reduced from 10.32% to 9.86%.
  • Nursing turnover has reduced from 9.63% and 12.24% across the two organisations, to 8.84% in one.
  • Retire and return rates overall increased from 38% (2018) to 44% (2019), and for nursing staff from 38% (2017/2018) to 53 per cent (2018/2019) – this equates to 11 more nurses retained.
  • Tailored support for staff and managers and information about considerations of new ways of working has increased.

Case study: University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust – Supporting staff to work for longer