NHS Forth Valley has become one of only two healthcare organisations in the UK  to achieve a gold Investors in People award. It follows a three year rolling assessment across all services in the organisation during which the Assessor found that the majority of staff feel valued for their hard work, efforts and achievements and, as a result, are very willing to go the extra mile whenever the need arises.

The Assessor also acknowledged the sustained commitment NHS Forth Valley makes to supporting people’s learning and development with a wide range of opportunities for staff at all levels. Coaching was also assessed very positively with an impact not only on working lives, but also on personal health and wellbeing.  Managers also spoke about how they prepare their staff to ‘step-up’ when vacancies arise.

As well as achieving the Investors in People Scotland Gold award, NHS Forth Valley also received a Good Practice Gold award for Investors in Young People. The organisation was praised for recruiting and developing young people and acknowledged for participating in the Modern Apprenticeship Scheme, school placement programme, the Flying Start programme and future work with Project Search.

NHS Forth Valley’s Chief Executive, Cathie Cowan, said:  “I am delighted that we are one of only two healthcare organisations in the UK to have achieved the Gold standard and everyone should be very proud of their contribution.  The Assessor found many examples of staff who have a strong sense of ownership and are proud to work for the organisation.

“Achieving  Investors in People Scotland Gold status is both a significant achievement for the organisation itself and for all the individual staff who contribute to making this organisation what it is.”

Peter Russian, Chief Executive of Remarkable, the home for Investors in People in Scotland, added: “This is a fantastic achievement for NHS Forth Valley. I would like to congratulate the organisation and its people on their commitment to continuous improvement. Investors in People offers a flexible, practical and easy to use business improvement tool designed to help organisations and their people achieve their objectives. I hope that more organisations in the area will be encouraged to sharpen their competitive edge by choosing to work with us.”