We are really pleased that we won the unionlearn ULR Award for Promoting Numeracy again, it's brilliant!

The recognition helps us spread the word more widely within the Trust, and get out to the community staff as well as those in hospital settings. 

Why did you get involved with National Numeracy?

We were at a ULR workshop and National Numeracy gave a presentation. We had already heard another presentation about maths which was really confrontational and told us to do a test. Then National Numeracy came along with a completely fresh approach. It was more laid-back, without the pressure and was actually quite fun. 

Why does the National Numeracy approach work?

It is everyday maths, day-to-day stuff and not “pi equals x”. Maths still panics me but the National Numeracy Challenge has made me feel more at ease and I have given it a go. 

Is poor numeracy a hidden problem? 

Yes, when we first started we did a Challenge initiative and the results were quite low for most people that had done it. But the monthly data reports we receive from National Numeracy are really useful and we know we are making a difference. It helps us to show to the management and others why this is making a really good impact. 

Why is good numeracy important for healthcare staff? 

In a healthcare setting there’s lots of numeracy involved in people’s jobs on a day-to-day basis. When you’re working with the patients, from taking temperatures to fluid balance charts and medication, accuracy is so important.

How does better numeracy help people to progress at work?

When we encourage people to use the National Numeracy Challenge we explain that if you get 80 and above, you have the ‘essentials of numeracy’, which are the numeracy skills you need to support your career in health. It helps people to see that if you get your foundations you can then go to any college, take that exam, and then you can move on in your career.

Visit the National Numeracy Challenge website to find out more.