𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝗧𝘄𝗼 𝗼𝗳 𝗧𝗼𝗻𝘆 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗻’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝗮𝗿𝘆

Given my location this morning, and the peace and tranquility, sitting looking out over this view, I thought that staff wellbeing was a good topic for today’s theme.

The impact of working under sustained pressure cannot be underestimated. A wide range of stakeholders and organisations have highlighted the negative effects on health and social care workers, including anxiety, stress, exhaustion and burnout.

Latest research has highlighted that health and social care staff have faced a range of challenges during and since the pandemic, that have impacted on their mental health and wellbeing. These have included: increased workload, difficulties accessing support and resources, witnessing serious illness and death at unprecedented levels, from knowing colleagues who have been seriously ill or died from the virus, feelings of guilt about not being able to do more, isolation from family and friends, duration of the pandemic and concerns about the future.

A report by the Samaritans identified healthcare workers as one of five groups whose suicide risk may be exacerbated as a result of the pandemic. The report described how healthcare workers have struggled with feelings of anxiety, trauma and mental fatigue from their work during the pandemic, alongside the impact of being surrounded by serious illness and death at unparalleled levels, whilst often struggling for support and resources.

The British Medical Association (BMA) reported that 41% of doctors who responded to their survey said they were suffering from depression, anxiety or another mental health condition, which had worsened since the start of the pandemic; and that 59% said their current level of fatigue or exhaustion had been higher than normal during and since the crisis.

In the new Single Assessment Framework, the CQC have finally recognised that our workforce needs as much recognition in terms of the care we offer them as our patients / residents / service users do. A number of the new quality statements specifically ask providers to evidence how they’re supporting staff wellbeing, pointing out that this can directly affect the quality of patient outcomes.

Our Well Led workshops along with our Single Assessment Framework Workshops both have this as a key theme throughout the day, promoting staff and team wellbeing as something that can really help you achieve the ‘Outstanding’ you’re looking for.