Team News

St Gemma’s moves up the ranks in The Inclusive Top 50 UK Employers List!

January 31, 2023Blog Latest News

We’re delighted to announce that we have ranked 31^st on the Inclusive Top 50 UK Employers List 2022/23!

Now in its 7^th year, the Inclusive Top 50 UK Employers List (IT50), is made up of companies and charitable organisations that put inclusivity at the heart of them, and is one that we are overjoyed and extremely proud to be part of.

We are committed to continually improving across all strands of diversity (age, disability, gender, LGBTQ+, race, faith and religion) and are thrilled to not only be featured again but to have moved up the list from 37^th to 31^st.

We would like to thank our employees representing different groups across the Hospice from our LGBTQ+ group to our Multicultural Network, for their dedication to improving inclusivity.

Jamie who leads our LGBTQ+ group says:

“LGBTQ+ inclusion is an area we have focused on over the past year, with staff taking the lead and collaborating to learn what best practice looks like and how best to meet everyone’s needs. In June, during Pride month, we celebrated with a Pride-themed ‘catch up with cake’ for staff, in August we joined the Leeds Pride parade and last October, Dr Ellie Kane gave a talk about transitioning.”

Our Spiritual Care team and Multicultural Network are also working together on events to celebrate Eid, Ramadan and our multi-faith week, which celebrates the five largest faith communities in the local area.

This access to knowledge about all strands of diversity helps colleagues to better support each other and also informs patient care and how we support the needs of all of our patients. Caring for everyone who needs us has always been central to the ethos of St Gemma’s.

Find out more about working at St Gemma’s and view our latest Hospice jobs.

Chief Nurse Heather McClelland reflects on the last six months

October 30, 2020Blog Latest News

Chief Nurse Heather McClelland reflects on the last six months at St Gemma’s and how the Hospice has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic:

“It’s hard to put into words how much we have achieved as an organisation over the last few months. We started the year full of our usual ambition and energy, not knowing that a global pandemic would take hold and change our lives at work and at home.

Our first formal internal ‘Cobra’ meeting took place on 6 March when we set up a pandemic group and started to put plans into place. We scrutinised (as we still do) every piece of emerging government guidance to ensure we understood the implications for our charity. Whatever the guidance, our first priority was, and still is, staff and patient safety – both in the Hospice and out in the community.

It has been remarkable to see colleagues in all areas transforming the way they work individually and as teams. Many staff spent weeks or months working at their kitchen tables. Others donned full PPE (personal protective equipment) and carried on living up to our motto – Always Caring.

Behind the scenes, we closed our charity shops, postponed fundraising events, and cancelled a whole calendar of training and teaching sessions in our Academic Unit. That’s as well as implementing social distancing measures across the site and giving most staff a crash course in online meetings such as Zoom.

Many things have been challenging along the way, such as the unbearable decisions about In-Patient visiting – should we allow visitors, how many and for how long? None of us enjoyed having to impose restrictions of any kind at such a difficult time. But we worked through it, keeping the patient and those around them at the heart of all our decisions.

The most remarkable thing is the resilience and flexibility of staff across the whole organisation. Most of our services have continued as before, albeit with some adjustments. But the teams continue to transform the way they work and we’ve even managed to develop new services and support for patients during the year.

Our community team have used video conferencing with patients, enabling them to have conversations about pain, fatigue, nausea, shortness of breath and also about planning for the future. This was a really great innovation for us and enabled us to continue to see patients when face-to-face contact wasn’t possible.

The Day Services team have also been busy developing new ways of supporting and keeping in touch with patients. They have been sending regular updates and the weekly drop-in sessions, carers’ group, and Breeze group, which supports patients with Breathlessness, fatigue and anxiety management, are all now online via Zoom.

Patients who can’t be supported virtually are having any symptoms managed either by telephone support or face-to-face home visits. And we are now beginning to offer Out-Patient appointments once again.

Early in the pandemic we set up a telephone support line for anyone dealing with a bereavement. This has now evolved into a new regional helpline, the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Grief and Loss Support Service. St Gemma’s staff and volunteers are involved in supporting the service, which is available to anyone living in the West Yorkshire and Harrogate area who is feeling sad or upset about people dying during the coronavirus pandemic. There is a telephone support line and a live online chat facility where people can talk to a trained professional about how they are feeling. It is open 7 days per week, 8am-8pm.

Our Family Support Team also developed a practical funeral guide to help anyone planning a funeral during the pandemic. Losing a loved one is difficult at any time, but the current restrictions make things even harder than usual.

All in all, I’ve seen the teams rise to the challenge and I’m truly proud of the way we have responded to this crisis as an organisation.”

Caring Kib

March 12, 2020

St Gemma’s is in the Top 100 Not-For-Profit Organisations to Work For

February 28, 2020Blog

We are delighted to tell you that St Gemma’s has once again been awarded a place in the annual Top 100 Not-For-Profit Organisations to Work For.

This year we have made two substantial achievements: we’ve achieved ‘Two Star’ accreditation for the first time, which means that we have outstanding levels of engagement across the workplace, and we have significantly jumped up the league table to number 18. We were ranked 76 in 2018 and 67 in 2019.

“I am proud to say I work at St Gemma’s.”

Staff feedback

Clinical Staff holding Best Companies Award

View our current vacancies

Our ranking and accreditation are a direct result of staff feedback, given via an anonymous survey. Staff all have the opportunity to give feedback and opinions about their managers, working conditions and organisational values. This feedback is vital as it allows us to continually improve and make St Gemma’s an even better place to work.

96% of staff agreed: I feel proud to work for this organisation

Since last year’s survey results, we have all worked together and this is reflected in our scores, which have increased across every area of the survey. Our leadership team have particularly focussed on improving staff satisfaction and engagement in some key areas previously highlighted by the survey; our scores show commitment from staff, across the whole organisation, to improvement in these areas.

Long Service: 40% of our employees have more than 5 years’ service!

St Gemma’s Chief Executive, Kerry Jackson, shares her thanks:

“I am grateful for everyone’s contribution and commitment to making St Gemma’s a really great place to work. Our place in this prestigious list is a reflection of the work we are all doing around engagement, culture and transformation. We will continue to listen to feedback and improve where we can. This recognition gives us confidence that our efforts are making a difference and we are heading in the right direction.

“Thank you to all St Gemma’s staff and volunteers for your ongoing support and contribution to the success and achievements of our Hospice.”

Interested in a career at St Gemma’s Hospice? Find out more about the benefits we can offer you and view our latest vacancies.

St Gemma’s ranked in The Inclusive Top 50 UK Employers List!

February 5, 2020Blog Latest News

We’re delighted to share the news that, in recognition of our continued dedication to workplace diversity, St Gemma’s has been ranked 44th in The Inclusive Top 50 UK Employers List. The top 50 is a definitive list of UK-based organisations that promote inclusion across all protected characteristics, throughout each level of employment within an organisation.

The Inclusive Top 50 UK Employers List recognises the outstanding efforts of organisations that have begun their journey to attracting and retaining a truly diverse workforce, achieving equality, diversity and inclusion at its purest form.

Companies must demonstrate the promotion of all strands of diversity including age, disability, gender, LGBT, race, faith & religion; the list focuses on representation at management, senior, executive and board level.

“This list presents the very best of UK companies who are integrating an inclusive culture right from the top of their organisations – no one size fits all, and the breadth of initiatives is a reminder of the importance in innovation and diversity of thinking for all employers”, said Founder & CEO of Inclusive Companies, Paul Sesay. “The top 50 represents the ripple effect all the organisations are making on not only their own people, but society as a whole. The list is a brilliant way of sharing the great strides that are being made”.

Our position in the list reflects the high standard to which we operate. As well as addressing areas of improvement, we have developed and delivered high impact initiatives to actively implement solutions.

Kerry Jackson, St Gemma’s Hospice Chief Executive says: “We’re delighted to have been ranked 44th in the UK’s Inclusive Companies awards. This is a great achievement, particularly as it’s the first year that we applied to be members.

“The Inclusive Companies list rewards organisations for ‘harnessing a truly diverse workforce and recognises the significant efforts of organisations nationwide that excel in their commitment to equality and inclusion across all strands of diversity.’ We truly do welcome diversity in all its forms and the richness this brings to our organisation.”

Find out more about working at St Gemma’s and view our latest Hospice jobs.

Christmas Isn’t Always Merry and Bright

October 28, 2019

As winter approaches and the festive season begins, we know how difficult it can be for people who are grieving or facing Christmas alone. It doesn’t matter if it’s your first year without someone who has died or you were bereaved long ago. Dealing with a serious illness or the death of someone close can […]