Work related stress hits British and European workers

FOUNDED in 1967, in France Novotel grew into what became Accor group, in 1983. It now manages 559 hotels within 65 countries, throughout the world. In the UK, Novotel and Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) have just launch a collection of 6 guided meditations to help people tackle work related stress and support work place mindfulness, following a new research study from Novotel which reveals:-

►   49% of Brits have suffered from work related stress.

►   93% of workers have tried to improve their work life balance.

►   11:15 a.m. is the most productive time of day in the UK.

►   Brits are typically productive for just 5 hours and 11 minutes in the UK.

Europe is in the midst of a work life balance recalibration with 93% of workers admitting they have tried to improve their work life balance.

This follows alarming news that 49% of Brits have suffered from work-related stress. 35% of Brits have taken time of work due to stress, 16% have been signed off work due to stress and 31% have gotten ill due to work related stress.

Chris Timbs, Vice President Marketing for Novotel in Northern Europe said:- "This can't continue. The increased level of work related stress in the UK and across Europe is unhealthy. Everyone should be able to take a moment to unwind and recalibrate. Mindfulness at work is proven to positively influence performance, satisfaction and work engagement. That's why we work with Calm to help our guests bring mindfulness into their work day."

The Novotel study revealed 11.15 a.m. is the most productive time of day in the UK. In an average week Brits consider themselves to be productive for just 5 hours and 11 minutes out of a working day which is usually around 7 hours and 40 minutes long. The longest working day in the UK is in East Midlands where workers work an average of 8 hours and 8 minutes.

On average Europeans work 4 hours and 20 minutes of overtime a week on top of contracted working hours which is mostly spent on emails and generally:- 'catching up.' In the UK, the average overtime is 3 hours and 55 minutes, however, the North East and Yorkshire areas do more overtime than any other region of Britain, 4 hours and 47 minutes and 4 hours and 50 minutes respectively.

Brits tend to wind down from work in the evening at 18.38 pm. Europe is divided on the most productive work set up; both at home or in the office. According to the research, 42% find their place of work, for instance the office, the most productive working space. Interestingly, just 33% of Brits agree that the office is the most productive. 21% of Europeans find home working the most productive option (27% in the UK) and 25% of Brits and Europeans find a hybrid solution of part home, part office is the most productive solution.

Poland has the healthiest work life balance of those polled in Europe, revealing a 50%/50% split whilst workers in other countries indicated an imbalance favouring work.

According to the study, which polled 6,000 Europeans across 5 countries, Londoners have the longest commute, at 43 minutes, closely followed by workers in Hamburg who commute for an average of 40 minutes.

Working on the commute is seen as a positive productivity technique by those who do it. 54% feel more organised about the day ahead, 47% are less stressed during their actual working hours and 44% say it helps them avoid working overtime.

Emlyn Brown, VP Well Being at Accor has suggested:- "Sometimes life changing habits can be as simple as listening to a meditation on your lunchbreak or commute home. Designed for busy executives, Novotel and Calm's exclusive new meditations follow different themes to reduce stress, improve relationships and boost productivity. Time is our greatest asset, it is life's ultimate luxury which there isn't enough of. As work pressure mounts, it is increasingly vital to focus on our mental health and make time for ourselves to rebalance our busy lives."

Novotel, a favourite choice for meetings and business travel, has partnered with Calm, the #1 App for Sleep and Meditation, to help meeting goers, business travellers and work from anywhere locals take time for mindfulness.

Novotel's exclusive Calm mini App, featuring meditations, sleep music and Sleep StoriesTM, is now available to all Novotel guests and the exclusive collection of 6 meditations are available for meeting delegates in hotels across Europe.

To find out more and to download the Novotel x Calm Mini App, click here.

For more information about Novotel X Calm's co-published business and meeting meditation, click here.

For more information about the UK charity CARM, please go to:- TheCalmZone.Net and if you need help, CALM�s helpline and live chat are open from:- 5pm to midnight, everyday. 365 days a year!

Details of �500 million to boost Social Care Workforce and free up Hospital beds this winter

PATIENTS will benefit from faster access to emergency treatment following an injection of �500 million to free up Hospital beds through quicker discharge, which will also help reduce Ambulance handover times. �300 million will be given to Integrated Care Boards to improve bed capacity and �200 million for Local Authorities to bolster the social care workforce, increasing capacity to take on more patients from Hospitals.

Local Authorities and Integrated Care Boards; organisations that bring the NHS together locally to improve health in the community; will work together to agree on spending across their regions, introducing tailored solutions, which speed up discharge and benefit patients in their area.

Allocations will be published in due course with payments to be made in the coming weeks, following the announcement of the fund earlier this year. A 2nd trenched of funding will be distributed in January 2023 delivering support across winter.

Speaking at the NHS Providers' annual conference in Liverpool the Health and Social Care Secretary said:- "I'm pleased to announce details of the fund which will be provided to ICBs and Local Authorities to free up beds, at a time when bed occupancy is at 94%. In line with our devolved and data-driven approach we will be allowing local areas to determine how we can speed up the discharge of patients from Hospital. This might be through purchasing supportive technology boosting domiciliary care capacity or physiotherapists and occupational therapists to support recovery at home. We will also be looking closely at the impact of how funding is used and using this data to inform future decisions around funding."

Local areas will be free to spend this money on initiatives which will have the greatest impact in their area on reducing discharges into social care, which in most areas will mean prioritising home care. Funding may also be used to boost adult social care workforce capacity, through staff recruitment and retention, where that will help reduce delayed discharges.

Addressing the workforce for the 1st time since returning to the role, the Health and Social Care Secretary set out his priorities, on Wednesday, 16 November 2022, for the coming months to ensure the health and care system continues to deliver for patients.

Key areas of focus for the months ahead will be:-

►   Supporting the workforce including through more staff for NHS 111 and 999.

►   Focusing on recovery plans across electives, urgent and emergency care.

►   Tackling the issue of delayed Hospital discharge.

►   Improving access to primary care.

►   Ensuring a stronger future for health including:- maintaining momentum on the New Hospital. Programme and investing in technology to improve patient outcomes.

Minister of State for Care Helen Whately said:- "People should be cared for in the best place for them, but discharge delays mean patients are spending too long in Hospital. Our discharge fund will get more people cared for in the right place at the right time. We're asking Hospitals and the social care system to work together to help patients and carers too, who often take on a lot of the burden of caring when someone leaves Hospital. The discharge fund will boost the social care workforce and in turn reduce pressures on the NHS and Hospital staff, as it frees up beds and helps improve Ambulance handover delays."

On tackling the Covid backlogs, the Health and Social Care Secretary emphasised the importance of close working between the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England to reduce variation and tackle wider recovery challenges.

Looking beyond the immediate challenges of this winter, he reiterated the need to ensure a stronger future for health and care including investment in NHS buildings.

He set out his commitment to prioritise Hospitals built using reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) as part of transformation plans as well as the need to modernise the way NHS buildings are constructed, moving away from bespoke designs by individual trusts and towards standardised designs that can streamline the approvals process and reduce construction time. This will help deliver new Hospitals more quickly with better value for money, as part of the Government's commitment to deliver 40 new Hospitals by 2030.

He also set out the need to harness the opportunities of new ways of working shown by the pandemic including use of the NHS app to reduce pressures in primary care. From the end of the month patients will be able to book their Covid vaccine via the NHS app, reducing the burden on GP providers.

Closing his speech, he acknowledged the size of the collective challenge the system as a whole faces heading into winter and his commitment to working with the sector to build a more resilient, healthier NHS for the long term.

The Health and Social Care Secretary's speech at NHS Providers Conference can be found on:- Gov.UK.

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Work related stress hits British and European workers

Details of �500 million to boost Social Care Workforce and free up Hospital beds this winter