Barts Hearts wins Nursing Times Workforce Award
Barts Health has been named Best Employer for Staff Recognition and Engagement at the prestigious 2024 Nursing Times Workforce Awards for its innovative peer-to-peer recognition platform, Barts Hearts.
The platform, funded by Barts Charity, allows staff to give ‘hearts’ to colleagues, celebrating acts of kindness, dedication, and teamwork. These messages of appreciation are shared publicly on the platform, allowing everyone to view and celebrate each other.
Since its launch, more than 75,000 messages have been shared, with over 13,000 staff members receiving at least one heart and over 10,000 taking the time to send one.
Staff who receive five hearts can exchange them for a reward, a small token of appreciation.
The platform is also open to external contractors and volunteers, ensuring it is inclusive and accessible to everyone in the Barts Health family.
Recognition engagement manager Georgina McKenzie-Hurry who helped lead the project said:
Based on feedback from staff, it was clear they wanted more recognition for the everyday acts of kindness that often go unnoticed. With that in mind, we created Barts Hearts. While I knew this was something staff wanted, I never imagined it would become such a success, with a message being sent every five minutes, all day, every day.
In a recent survey about the wider recognition programme, 55% of staff reported feeling more recognised for their contributions since the platform’s launch, highlighting its positive impact on engagement, satisfaction, and workplace culture.
About the win, Georgina said:
Winning a Nursing Times Workforce Award means the world to our team. Barts Hearts is a project I'm incredibly proud to have helped launch, and this recognition makes me even prouder of what we've achieved.