Headlines abound of risk of burnout, poor mental health, and the wider wellbeing of our healthcare workforce. In December 2023, the British Psychological Society in its ‘Learning from NHS Staff Mental Health and Wellbeing Hubs’, stated that long-term funding for employee mental health and wellbeing services is fundamental to staff retention and the delivery of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan. Earlier in the year, NHS Digital claimed that in May alone up to 25% of the NHS’ which was absent through sickness was off due to poor mental health.
At Newcross, we firmly believe that to provide the best care, you have to feel your best. It is why at the start of 2023, we launched our free Inclusive Inner Wellness seminars for all care and healthcare workers. The seminar series highlights the steps people can take to be in charge of their emotions, including stress, anxiety, and everything in between. They provide tools that can be used immediately, taking a few minutes each day, and can have a significant impact to support wellness.
NHS Providers view
In a briefing paper from June 2023, NHS Providers (NHSP) shared its view on the NHS’ Long Term Workforce Plan. It stated, “In terms of wider wellbeing work, we are pushing NHS England (NHSE) on a timeline and funding for integrated care system (ICS) occupational health and wellbeing services, alongside enabling the work which trusts are doing to provide a working environment which supports health and wellbeing.”
NHSP highlighted that a lack of capital investment remains a significant blocker to realising many of the ambitions around improving mental wellbeing of the healthcare workforce. It called for ‘ring fenced central funding for mental health and wellbeing initiatives’.
NHSP expressed disappointment at the removal of national funding for wellbeing hubs as it significantly reduced access for many NHS staff to mental health services they desperately need. They joined forces with the BPS on the next steps to best support trusts as they ‘reassess how to best provide staff with mental health support.’
Julian Hartley on the podcast
Earlier this year, the CEO of NHSP – Sir Julian Hartley – joined us on our Voices of Care Podcast. In the episode he discussed healthcare worker wellbeing and employee engagement at length.
He said “The more engaged and empowered your teams are, the more aligned they will be to the overall shared purpose of the organisation. Then the better the outcomes for patients. Operational delivery. Financial performance. That connection has been made numerous times…without a strongly engaged, empowered workforce, you will not get to a sustainable position either on financial performance or on quality or on operational delivery.”
Employee engagement and culture was front of mind for Julian when he took on the CEO role at Leeds Teaching Hospitals in 2013, not least because he recognised the direct link between culture, engagement and staff wellbeing. “ At Leeds, there was a collective effort to identify and shape a culture where people felt valued and empowered, where there was significant recognition, continuous improvement, and an enlightened management style. I would argue strongly those things are the prerequisite for attending to the challenges we face now, particularly in terms of staff, health and wellbeing.”
Wellness on the podcast
Sir Julian Hartley is one of many Voices of Care podcast guests who has talked about wellness and how their Trust is promoting this among employees.
Louise Stead, the Chief Executive of the Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust, spoke about some of the wellbeing initiatives her Trust has put into place, “We make sure that everybody has got access to occupational health and to mental health support online. So, if it’s two in the morning and you’ve got a really bad situation, you can ring and speak to someone.”
Having 24/7 access to mental health support is important for a number of reasons. A mental health issue can arise at any time. As with physical conditions, it’s vital to seek help as quickly as possible – which can be achieved with round-the-clock access to professionals. Offering 24/7 mental health support can also help to reduce the stigma of these issues and ensure that people feel confident and comfortable in reaching out.
NHS CEOs highlight wellness as key to retention and engagement
Through looking after each and every employee in this way, regardless of their role, organisations can promote excellent teamwork, seamless communication, an engaged workforce, and increased retention levels.
Professor Joe Harrison, Trustee and Chief Executive, Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, joined us on the podcast and shared his thoughts on ensuring that everyone working in the Trust is looked after, “Whether you’re a clinician, whether you’re a porter, whether you’re an accountant in the finance department, you all matter, and you are all needed to make the hospital work well.”
Getting the wellness basics right in NHS organisations
Sometimes, it’s the little things that count and show employees that they’re appreciated. Richard Mitchell, the Chief Executive of University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, discussed what his Trust is doing to help with employee wellness following a staff survey highlighting the importance of getting the basics right.
“What are the basics that people need to do their job? And that entails things like access to safe car parking, ideally co-located on site, making sure that the food provision is better than the past, making sure that we have high quality food, that it’s low-cost food, making sure that the Wi-Fi works. Making sure that your computer works…. At times, we need to be focusing on the basics.”
Inclusive inner wellness free to the NHS workforce
The NHS Providers view, Sir Julian Hartley’s words, and our conversations with our NHS luminaries highlight the importance of wellness for employees in the health and social care sector. Which, in turn, makes it clear that NHS Trusts will be facing huge pressures with wellness hub funding being removed.
We wanted to support NHS workforce wellness at this critical period and play our part in supporting staff retention, which is fundamental to the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan being actualised. We’ve made a commitment to offer our inclusive approach to inner wellness free to NHS Trusts across the UK, including those lead by Louise Stead and Richard Mitchell.
We are proud to say that this inclusive inner wellness webinar series, delivered personally by Suhail Mirza, a global speaker and coach on inner wellness, is free to all NHS workers. So far, the series is helping numerous NHS Trusts, with a combined workforce of over 100,000, across the UK. The feedback from attendees has been excellent and we continue to deliver these throughout 2024 as the NHS workforce battles with winter pressures.
To find out more about our inner wellness webinars, please contact [email protected].
