Mental Wellbeing Report

The Commission was led by Sir Keith Pearson, former Chair of Health Education England, and by Professor Simon Gregory, Director and Dean of Education and Quality, Midlands and East, as Programme Clinical Director.

An interim report was presented to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care in summer 2018, and the final report builds on the literature review and research findings of that interim report working with a Commission panel of subject advisors and experts meeting during summer and autumn 2018.

Research

The panel heard from staff working in the NHS whose wellbeing has been adversely affected by workplace experiences, and from several families bereaved by the death of a loved one who ended their life while in the employment of the NHS. The Commission also heard from representatives of beacons of best practice where colleague wellbeing is supported and championed. In addition, visits took place nationwide to find out more about how organisations are valuing, supporting and caring for their staff and for learners on undergraduate clinical education placements or receiving postgraduate training.

Our aims

The Commission’s aim is to see an NHS where staff and learners are happy and feel fulfilled in their work, where they look forward to going to work and are proud of the care they provide to their patients. There is good evidence that happy staff are more compassionate and provide safer care.

Final report

This final report, written to support the new NHS Long Term Plan, has been produced for the consideration of the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.

Workforce Stress and Supportive Organisations

The Workforce Stress and the Supporting Organisation framework which was originally launched by Health Education England (HEE) in April 2019 has now been reviewed and updated.

The newly updated Workforce Stress and the Supportive Organisation – A framework for improvement through reflection, curiosity and change encourages employers to take a closer look at the systems they currently have in place for managing staff wellbeing,  it challenges them to give greater consideration to the impact  workforce stress has on staff and look at the role they can play in providing better support to staff who may need it.

Health Education England originally commissioned the National Workforce Skills Development Unit (NWSDU) at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust to develop a resource to get employers to rethink how they deal with workforce stress. The same organisation has been commissioned to undertake the review and update the content, taking special consideration of the Covid 19 pandemic and the impact it has had and continues to have on NHS staff.

It also talks about the impact of leadership, capacity and capability on workforce mental wellbeing and what employers need to consider.

HEE is committed to an NHS where staff and learners are happy and feel fulfilled in their work, where they look forward to going to work and are proud of the care they provide to their patients. There is good evidence that happy staff are more compassionate and provide safer care.

A toolkit to help people implement the framework is also available here. 

An accessible version of the framework is also available. Workforce Stress and the Supportive Organisation - Accessible version

An accessible version of the implementation toolkit is also available. Implementing the Framework - Accessible version 

Further Information.