Further to the continued offer of free soup and hot drinks that has been available to colleagues since late December, we are pleased to confirm this offer has now been extended until January 31st 2023.

It is hoped that the continuation of this offer until the end of January will support colleagues to maintain positive wellbeing at work, take breaks where possible and encourage more social opportunities.

Please note that normal catering services and charges will return to all Gateshead Health catering facilities from Wednesday 1st February.

Colleagues experiencing financial hardship and who would benefit from continued support to access meals while working are reminded of the availability of support through the Leg-Up Project. The initiative is a confidential service led by our Chaplaincy Team which provides access to hot meals at work through the distribution of discreetly redeemable vouchers. To access this support, please contact Chaplaincy on 0191 445 2072 (internal: 2072) to arrange a confidential pick-up.

Colleagues working out-of-hours shifts are also reminded of the recent improvements made to our out-of-hours catering offer following a review of your feedback. A summary of these improvements can be found here, while we are pleased to confirm that additional facilities have now also been installed in the Peter Smith Surgery Centre to increase convenience and accessibility for those colleagues who work out-of-hours.

For any further queries or feedback, please get in touch with our health and wellbeing team on [email protected].