How the RoSPA Awards have helped Barchester Healthcare become health and safety exemplars
National care home provider Barchester Healthcare supports 13,800 residents and patients across 268 homes and hospitals spread across the country, with 19,000 staff and an estimated 50,000 regular visitors. It has a proud record at the RoSPA Awards, winning the Healthcare Services Sector Award in 2025 for the sixth year in a row, as well as receiving the Fall Prevention Trophy. Barchester has also been a finalist for the Sir George Earle Trophy in both 2022 and 2024.
Andy Hollingshead is one of Barchester Healthcare’s Health and Safety Managers. We asked him if the RoSPA Awards have helped Barchester to advance its health and safety performance.
Identifying priorities
Andy says: “We initially entered the RoSPA Awards for a range of reasons. I was already aware of the massive benefits the Awards can bring, as I had come from a job where we had entered for 14 years. At Barchester, we wanted to see how well we were doing and strive to be better. We also wanted to gain some external recognition as we thought we were doing a good job. We looked around to find ways to help benchmark ourselves against other healthcare organisations.
“The Awards really helped us to identify areas for improvement, such as consultation with employees – it did happen, but we were not as good then as we are now. The feedback from our entries was so helpful and constructive – it had a direct influence on future entries.
“Over the years, our submissions have evolved. We focus 100% on quality over quantity, developing an amazing quality control system, and we gather evidence throughout the year through improved communication between teams.
“If Barchester was a stick of rock, we would have RoSPA going through the middle of it. The Awards have become massive for all of us, from the CEO (who loves the scheme) to senior management and all staff. It has had a massive impact on highlighting the importance of health and safety within our organisation.”
What worked and why?
Paul Mason is Barchester’s Director of Health and Safety. We asked him about the impact the RoSPA Awards has had on Barchester’s health and safety track record.
Paul comments: “The Awards have helped contribute to amazing light bulb moments and reflected learning. Sometimes when you actually look back at what you have done and break it all down, it’s incredible. For example, how fire drills are carried out in the care industry is a massive issue, but we developed a new system that is transitional and is now integrated into normal practice.
“We have reviewed documents, guidance and risk assessments to make them much easier for our managers and staff to use and we embrace risk to support our residents to have amazing life enrichment experiences, for instance helping a resident with motor neurone disease fly in a Spitfire or enabling a 93-year-old resident to fulfill their dream of riding a horse again.
“We were easily able to demonstrate leadership in our Awards entry as our CEO, COO and Senior Management visit our homes and hospitals all the time. They are available to answer any questions and speak to as many staff as possible. This is what visible leadership looks like.
“Overall, the RoSPA Awards have given health and safety a respected ‘status’ rather than just being seen as a necessary part of operations.”
Lessons for other entrants
Andy’s advice for those considering entering the Awards is: “Do it, you will not look back.”
He advises that in order to get the most out of the Awards process, “enter for an achievement award, following the helpful guidance and focus on quality, not quantity.
“Read the criteria carefully. Health and safety are both health – wellbeing, mental health, physical health - and safety, which is keeping people safe from harm. There is a word count per section which can be a challenge (as you want to say a lot more!), so draft it in a Word document to assist with word count management.”
Andy says that it’s really helpful to get support from other areas of the organisation when entering the Awards, for instance: “you really need HR input, especially regarding sickness absence management. You also need input from property in relations to contractor management/selection. We started entering the RoSPA Awards with one person managing the process but if it is possible, it is much better to work as a team so that you can get different views.”
Reaping the benefits
Winning RoSPA Awards has strengthened Barchester’s reputation. Paul says: “A copy of the RoSPA Awards winner logo is available in every Barchester care home/hospital foyer. After being shown around, potential new residents/their families are shown the logo with an explanation of what we have achieved. Being safe is one of the most important elements of living in a care home. If families go to other care providers and ask what health and safety awards they have, it leaves us in a strong position.
“Winning the Awards has helped create an amazing health and safety culture within Barchester, with health and safety being considered as a significant business driver. Our CEO, Dr Pete Calveley, has previously been named Influencer of the Year by RoSPA, and won The Health Investor Power Award and The Executive Power List in 2025 for an Outstanding Leader. He has also stated that there is nothing more important than the health and safety of our residents, patients, staff and visitors.”