Staff Wellbeing Psychology Service
Many factors influence the health and wellbeing of our health and social care staff members and teams. Some of these, such as physical and mental health, may be well understood. However, other cultural, systemic and environmental factors are fundamental to support the wellbeing of our staff so that staff can thrive in their work, as well as deliver safe and high quality care to service users.The Staff Wellbeing Psychology Service works to promote and support the wellbeing of healthcare staff across the trust. The service works closely with various partners across the trust in the development and delivery of a coordinated response to staff wellbeing at times of heightened need and crisis. The service provides support to managers and teams with the aim of clarifying and outlining measurable and workable actions to address and review each area of staff wellbeing needs that are identified. It provides a practical delivery guidance, from the evaluation of current status through to delivery, evaluation and review
Please see information below that the Psychology Service can provide:
Staff Wellbeing Psychology Service
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MANAGERS SUPPORT SERVICE INFORMATION
What is the Managers Support Service?
The Managers Support Service is being offered by Psychological Services as part of the Belfast Trust’s overall approach to supporting the Health and Wellbeing of our Staff. It offers a one – off consultation session with a Consultant Clinical Psychologist (Lead for new Charitable funded service for staff wellbeing within Psychological Services). These consultation sessions draw from evidence – based models, to explore issues of concern and offer support and guidance to managers.
Evidence tells us that:
- managers play a vital role in reducing the impact of workplace stress on staff wellbeing
- managers experience symptoms of stress in relation to the unique challenges of their role
What is the purpose of a consultation with the Staff Wellbeing Psychology Service?
The service aims to support managers in:
- Providing timely and responsive support
- Providing a thinking space with a member of the psychology team who will support you in making sense of the difficulties that you are noticing in your member of staff/team and how you can best support them
- Understanding how to support staff who are struggling with their job demands/ emotional wellbeing
- Understanding how to support teams following traumatic events within the workplace
- Providing an opportunity to consider your own needs as well as the needs of the staff that you are supporting
What does it involve?
Consultations will be made available either face-to-face or zoom and can last from 30-90 mins. Consultations are initially arranged with the manager, and can then be followed up with teams or services. Areas for consultation can include the following:
- Review of current need identified in relation to staff well-being. Overview of current supports available and review of stepped care model of staff wellbeing intervention framework with an identified action plan agreed.
- Focused discussion and review regarding facilitation of team meetings/ supervision from a Trauma Informed Care framework.
- Development of a shared psychological understanding of challenges within teams or services. This may include team-based formulation sessions that are tailored to the challenges faced by the team.
How will I know the outcome of the consultation session?
The staff wellbeing psychologist will record the consultation session on a Consultation Record Form. This will be signed and a copy made available to you following the consultation session. This will outline the action plan with a clear timeline. You will then be sent a feedback form to help us evaluate your consultation session.
Accessing the MSS
To book a consultation please contact the BHSCT Staff Wellbeing Psychology Service on psychologicalsupport@belfasttrust.hscni.net and request an MSS Consultation.
Managers’ Support Service FAQ’s
Does this replace the referral pathway for referring staff to the Occupational Health Service (OHS)?
No. Referrals for staff should proceed as usual to the OHS through the usual processes.
Can I use this service to make referrals to the Occupational Health Service?
No. This is a service provided by the Staff Wellbeing Psychology Service to offer consultation, advice and support. On occasion, you may be advised to make a referral to the OHS as a result of the consultation. However this will only be advised where deemed appropriate and in line with usual referral procedures.
Do I have to let anyone know I’m attending?
No. You do not have to let anyone know that you are attending. This is a confidential service.
Is this a therapy session?
No, the focus is on supporting you as a manager with the emotional demands of your job and supporting the team. There is space to think and discuss the emotional impact of the work on you but the focus is on supporting and equipping you in an emotionally demanding role in supporting your team.
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POST EVENT TEAM REFLECTION (PETR)
Supporting teams following critical/crisis events at work
What is the Staff Wellbeing Psychology Service?
The provision of Health & Social Care is an ever changing and challenging field. The Staff Wellbeing Psychology Service works to promote and support the wellbeing of healthcare staff across the trust, particularly at times of heightened crisis or difficulty.
What is the purpose of a Post Event Team Reflection (PETR)?
The PETR psychological debrief model has been developed to recognise the potential impact of critical events at work on staff wellbeing. The model is based on best practice guidelines developed by the Association for Clinical Psychologists (representative professional body for clinical psychologists). A PETR seeks to support individuals who work together and have collectively been involved in distressing and/or potentially traumatic events at work. The aim of PETR is to promote and support staff wellbeing, as well as create sense of cohesion, connection, collective efficacy and meaning making following a distressing event.
What does it involve?
PETR is delivered at a team level by a clinical/practitioner psychologist and normally lasts approximately 60-90 minutes. The timing is considered most helpful approximately 2-3 weeks following the difficult event. The session is a team effort and participation in discussions are voluntary. Individual staff members will not be asked to contribute or be ‘put on the spot’ to comment at any time. The PETR session is arranged following a discussion with the requester, during which the details and purpose of the session will be explored as part of the preparation phase. An overarching structure of the PETR session is outlined below:
- Ground rules: this will involve explaining the purpose of the session and agreeing the boundaries in which to create a safe and confidential space for the team.
- Story telling: this involves opportunity for the team to share the story of the event. Story telling will allow a brief overview of the difficult event and will avoid detailed or sensory descriptions. In some instances, this stage may be skipped depending on the nature of the distressing event.
- Impact of event: this aspect allows staff to openly discuss the emotional impact of the event on the team. This may include some open discussions on how individuals/ the team have been feeling/thinking/coping since the event.
- Meaning making: this aspect of the session focuses on facilitating connection and cohesion, as well as fostering hope and resilience within the team. This stage of the process is underpinned by the principles of psychological first aid with a focus on collective efficacy as well as facilitating compassion focused coping.
- Psychoeducation – this stage aims to normalise staff responses to the event, and also provides opportunity for increasing awareness to additional supports that are available across the trust.
- Signposting and agreeing next steps. This stage allows discussion regarding any considerations for additional team support i.e. follow up session; bereavement awareness training; signposting to other services etc.
FAQ
Does this replace other post event debriefs (e.g. hot debrief) that takes place within clinical teams following an event?
No. Teams should continue to engage in any agreed processes of debriefing following an event (e.g. hot debriefs; TIM tool; CISM; TRiM etc).
Does this replace the referral pathway for referring staff to the Occupational Health Service (OHS)?
No. PETR sessions are designed to promote and support the wellbeing of teams following a distressing and/or a potentially traumatic event at work. Referrals for individual staff should proceed to the OHS through the usual processes.
Do I have to attend?
No. Attendance at the session is optional. The acceptability of the session will be discussed with the team in the planning phase to determine the appropriateness of the session. If you decide to attend, participation and contribution to the discussions is also optional.
Is this a therapy session?
No. The focus is on supporting the team in relation to the impact of the recent distressing and/or potentially traumatic event. You will not be asked to discuss aspects of personal wellbeing, however some individuals may wish to do so.
What happens afterwards?
In some instances, a follow up session may be arranged with the team, or recommendations may be made in relation to additional supports. As the primary focus of the PETR session is not in relation to ‘learning’, there will normally not be any learning outcomes identified or fed back to management. For any learning that takes place that the team considers important, the team will be encouraged to communicate this back to the relevant others.
For further information, please contact the Staff Wellbeing Psychology Service by emailing psychologicalsupport@belfasttrust.hscni.net
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STAFF WELLBEING WORKSHOP FOR TEAMS
STAFF WELLBEING WORKSHOP FOR TEAMS
What is the Staff Wellbeing Psychology Service?
The provision of Health & Social Care is an ever changing and challenging field. The Staff Wellbeing Psychology Service works to promote and support the wellbeing of healthcare staff across the trust, particularly at times of heightened crisis or difficulty.
What is the purpose of a staff wellbeing workshop for teams?
The aim of the workshop is to provide teams with an opportunity to collectively reflect on the wellbeing of their team, as well as explore various strategies to assist with addressing the wellbeing needs of the team moving forward.
What does it involve?
Staff wellbeing workshops are delivered face-to-face and last approximately 2 hours. At times it may be helpful to arrange a follow up workshop some months later if appropriate. The workshops are initially arranged following a discussion with the manager, and therefore the focus of the workshop aims to address the specific nature of the experiences faced by the team in relation to their job role and function. In this way, workshops will be less general and more bespoke to the current matters identified within the team. The overarching structure of the session is outlined below:
- Ground rules: this will involve agreeing the boundaries in which to create a safe and confidential space for the team.
- Collective “check in” regarding general wellbeing of the team. This is reviewed at a group level and does not require anyone to contribute on an individual basis.
- Focused discussion and development of a shared formulation regarding the current wellbeing of the team. The aim of this aspect of the workshop is to understand factors that impact on, or contribute to, wellbeing at work.
- Psychoeducation – this aspect of the workshop is bespoke to each team and provides awareness and strategies in addressing and managing various challenges that can impact on team wellbeing. Some topics may include working with trauma; managing stress and burnout; understanding team dynamics; working with loss and bereavement; managing moral distress etc.
- The workshop will then aim to co-produce a wellbeing plan with the team, as well as increasing awareness to the various health and wellbeing supports available across the trust.
FAQ’s
Does this replace the referral pathway for referring staff to the Occupational Health Service (OHS)?
No. The wellbeing workshops are designed to promote and support the wellbeing of teams. Referrals for individual staff should proceed to the OHS through the usual processes.
Do I have to attend?
No. Attendance at the workshop is optional. The acceptability of the workshop will be discussed with team members in the planning phase to determine if the team would be willing to engage and find this approach helpful. This will hopefully in turn encourage engagement.
Is this a therapy session?
No, the focus is on supporting the team with the emotional demands of their job. There is space to think and discuss the emotional impact of the work on team. You will not be asked to discuss aspects of personal wellbeing, however some individuals may wish to do so.
What happens afterwards?
The session will aim to coproduce a wellbeing plan for the team. At times this may require a follow up workshop with the team some months later. Following the workshop, the facilitator will meet with the member of the team that made the request. Discussions will focus on the general themes discussed and the wellbeing plan, as well as monitoring and evaluation. Specific confidential aspects of the workshop discussions will not be shared with the requester unless the team communicate that this would be helpful.
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