An Oxford charity has been running series of workshops with NHS staff to reduce the risk of burnout ahead of the winter, which may see pressures on staff increase.
Family Links The Centre for Emotional Health is a national charity headquartered in Oxford dedicated to improving emotional health at home, school and work.
The charity has been working with the NHS by running a series of workshops to explore ways to create a safe, healthy working culture for all staff.
Mary Taylor, head of programmes at Family Links, said: “Many of the people taking part in our workshops spoke of their pride in their high professional standards, alongside their feelings of being personally burnt out.
“It was clear that a large frustration is that as professionals who are working within the NHS on a daily basis, they are not consulted about ways to address the important and growing challenges.
“For many of them, this accelerates into a feeling of not quite being up to the job, being of no use, and overwhelmed, which along with all of the other pressures, takes its toll on the physical, emotional and mental health of our ‘key’ people.
“For them to give of their best to their patients, to listen, respect and respond, it is vital that they too can experience this kind of care, support and daily culture.”
During the course of the workshops the charity worked with NHS staff of all levels who attended two and half-day workshops.
The workshops included ‘understanding the benefits of an emotionally healthy culture at work’ and ‘beginning practical planning together for ways forward’.
Sarah Darton, CEO of Family Links, said: “As we approach our second winter of uncertainty and threat, albeit with more human contact currently available to us, we must help the NHS staff who will continue to provide the daily support so many of us rely on.
“We need to empower them to be able to look after themselves and each other through emotionally healthy daily habits, backed up by systems which promote and encourage these practices.
“This pilot clearly shows the need for a call on government to listen to the people on the front line, to hear their wisdoms, their reflections, their ideas for positive ways forward. What is also needed is a collaborative review of the systems which can either enable or disable healthy working environments.
“To work on these system changes, we need to hear the voices of those people to whom we owe so much.”
