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Wellbeing and resilience

Contents

Mental health and wellbeing resources

Wellbeing Apps

Flexible Working (resources for managers)

Flexible Working (resources for support workers)

Reasonable Adjustments

Cost of living support

CNO/CMidO Awards 

Other resources 

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Resilience means feeling able to approach the potential challenges that your role as a support worker may bring, without these impacting on your life outside of work, and on your mental and physical wellbeing. It is important that you feel happy and confident within your role. The links below can help support you with this:

Mental health and wellbeing resources

  • NHS Professionals have developed a toolkit to support your wellbeing. This includes resources to support members of the LGBTQ community, men's and women's mental health, and other resources.
  • The Leadership Academy has developed a self-assessment tool to help you assess your emotional and mental wellbeing. Once you have completed the assessment you will be offered relevant information, advice, and support. based on your answers. This tool is not designed for emergency situations.
  • Our NHS People ​- Helping you manage your own health and wellbeing whilst looking after others​. You can view the latest information from the Health and Wellbeing Team here. This link includes additional information about occupational health, wellbeing guardians, civility, wellbeing conversations and beyond.
  • If you are a manager, Educator, Pastoral Support Worker or support worker interested in learning more about how to have wellbeing conversations. You can find a really useful video about how to have a wellbeing conversation here, and a really powerful video about the importance of a wellbeing conversation here.
  • Free online resilience toolkit for NHS employees and key workers - NHS Training Hub Cambridgeshire and Peterborough have developed a free online resilience and wellbeing toolkit from We are Beyond includes simple techniques to increase your resilience and wellbeing whilst reducing your anxiety and stress.
  • Your Wellbeing and Resilience Toolkit - British Red Cross have developed a tool that can help you to learn how to increase your wellbeing, strengthen your resilience and feel more confident in your role.  
  • Emotional Resilience Toolkit - Mental Health Foundation have developed this Emotional Resilience Toolkit provides practical guidance to promote the resilience of individuals and teams in companies as part of an integrated health and wellbeing programme.
  • NHS England » Wellbeing conversations - This tool supports managers, HR colleagues and those undertaking an appraisal facilitate a ‘wellbeing conversation’. As of September 2020, every member of the NHS should have a health and wellbeing conversation and develop a personalised plan. These conversations should be reviewed at least annually.
  • Top tips for healthy eating (Slimming World) - We’re all aware of the importance of eating a healthy, balanced diet, but with busy jobs, family commitments and limited time, making it a reality can sometimes seem impossible – something that was highlighted in the RCM’s Caring for You survey
  • Access to Work Mental Health Support Service (maximusuk.co.uk) - If you’re off work, worried about losing your job, or just not coping in your role, the Access to Work Mental Health Support Service, funded by the Department for Work and Pensions is here for you. Whether you are feeling low, anxious, or stressed, we can provide easy-to-access, confidential, one-to-one support, at no cost to you.
  • Able Futures - Able Futures could give you nine months advice and guidance from a mental health specialist who can help you learn coping mechanisms, build resilience, access therapy or work with your employer to make adjustments to help your mental health at work.
  • Mental Health Awareness Programme - This short eLearning for Health programme aims to raise the awareness of mental health amongst healthcare staff. It is designed to give a broad overview of what encompasses mental illness, the link between mental and physical health diagnoses and outline some possible treatment options. These sessions provide all staff working within health care with some general strategies to help support individuals who are worried about their mental health, and advice about where to find extra support.     

Each of the 7 regions have additional support available via the ‘Mental Health Hub’:

Wellbeing Apps

ShinyMind - Mental Health & Wellbeing App co-created with the NHS - ShinyMind isn’t a set process that is the same for everyone to follow from one level to the next, like a computer game. You can personalise your app so it’s yours – no two ShinyMinds are the same! You can sign up for masterclasses, develop a gratitude board, share positivity posts and more. You can also register for the Nursing LifePacks by clicking here: Nursing - Transfers (typeform.com) – this link is open to nurses, Midwifes, Nursing Associates and support workers.

Headspace - Headspace is a science-backed app in mindfulness and meditation, providing unique tools and resources to help reduce stress, build resilience, and aid better sleep. They have now extended their free offer and are offering free access to NHS staff until the 31 December 2023.

Unmind - Unmind is a mental health platform that empowers staff to proactively improve their mental wellbeing. Using scientifically backed assessments, tools and training you can measure and manage your personal mental health needs, including digital programmes designed to help with stress, sleep, coping, connection, fulfilment and nutrition. They have now extended their free offer and are offering free access to NHS staff until the 31 December 2023.

Bright Sky - Bright Sky is a free to download mobile app providing support and information for anyone who may be in an abusive relationship or those concerned about someone they know. The app is also available to use in Polish, Punjabi and Urdu.

WorkLife Central - WorkLife Central’s programme offers expertise and support to help you balance work with family life. WorkLife Central are offering all NHS colleagues access to their online programme that includes positive and practical support, delivered through expert-led webinars and seminars, as well as advice, peer insights, online articles, blogs and podcasts on specific topics such as health and wellbeing, bereavement and others.

Flexible Working (resources for managers)

Flexible working is one of the most requested options for wellbeing across all workers in the NHS, but it can often seem a hinderance for managers to incorporate into their service rostering. There are significant, proven, benefits to incorporating flexible working and reasonable adjustments within your teams, particularly around employee retention and resilience. Various resources and forums are available to facilitate the introduction of flexible working practices and e-Rostering within your teams:

There are further resources available to support your use of data and systems to facilitate flexible working:

  • NHS Staff Survey data and a blog to help accessing it and what to consider
  • There is NHS Jobs and TRAC functionality to advertise each role with clear flexible working options
  • There is a recording on using ESR functionality to record flexible working requests, including an exit questionnaire
  • Cost calculator - This MS Excel tool could help identify potential cost savings and measure return on investment from retention initiatives 
  • The NHS Flex for the Future programme has a data analysis and capture tool and there is a template dashboard available on for organisations to use (to be tested with Exemplar Sites)

There are additional miscellaneous resources available here, including:

Flexible Working (resources for support workers)

Individual toolkits are accompanied by the webinar recorded in 2021: Flexible working in the NHS: How to ask. The RCM provided midwifery specific advice on flexible working, but the principles remain the same across the NHS.

There is information and support on Flexible Retirement and Retire & Return

Reasonable Adjustments 

  • NHS health passport | NHS Employers - This health passport allows individuals to record details about their disability, health condition or learning disability. Once recorded, this document can help facilitate reasonable adjustment conversations and determine what support is most appropriate to help you thrive in your role.
  • Access to Work (ATW) - a government agency that helps people to stay in work and can help fund reasonable adjustments e.g., equipment or a coach. You can apply online for this support.
  • Understanding disability infographic | NHS Employers – NHS Employers have created an infographic to understand what a disability is and learn how organisations and managers can support disability in the workplace. This resource includes guidance for line managers and organisations.
  • Supporting disabled staff in the workplace | NHS Employers – NHS Employers have created this guidance to outline what the NHS is doing to support its disabled workforce.
  • Making reasonable adjustments to support disabled staff in their roles | NHS Employers - Employers have a legal responsibility to make workplace adjustments for disabled staff or those with long-term health conditions. NHS Employers have created this documentation to support organisations. This page also provides some good practice examples and tools.
  • The British Dyslexia Association has services and support available for colleagues who may need some guidance on how to manage their dyslexia in the workplace or to support a colleague with dyslexia.

Cost of living support

  • Recognition and Reward Team - FutureNHS Collaboration Platform  - This area provides information, key links and examples of what is already being done locally to help members of health and care staff make their money go further. Further content will be added regularly. It also acts as a space for you, as employers, to share ideas and collaborate.
  • NHS England » Supporting our staff to help money go further - This page provides a range of widely available financial wellbeing support and ideas to help any member of health and care staff make their money go further. Your trust will have developed some local guidance to support staff members, we recommend you speak to your line manager or HR team to find out more.
  • The rising cost of living | NHS Employers - This pack provides a summary of the areas employers may wish to explore to support staff with the rising cost of living.
  • Financial support - RCM - As midwives and maternity support workers (MSWs), we are often the caregivers, the shoulders of support to many women and families – and it is what we love about the profession. However, we cannot pour from an empty cup. That is why the RCM has joined forces with the Cavell Nurses' Trust to provide members with support through personal and financial hardship.
  • Financial wellbeing tools | Royal College of Nursing (rcn.org.uk) - The RCN teamed up with MoneyHelper to bring you a range of tools and calculators so that knowing where your money goes, or can go, has never been easier.

CNO/CMidO Awards 

The Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) and Chief Midwifery Officer (CMidO) Awards have been developed to reward the significant and outstanding contribution made by support workers in England and their exceptional contribution to nursing and midwifery practice.

  • Support workers and managers can nominate individuals or teams they feel are worthy of recognition.
  • Guidance on the CNO/CMidO nomination process can be found here
  • You can find anonymised example nomination forms from recent awards for both HCSWs and MSWs here.

Individual trusts may also run their own value and recognition awards, so be sure to also check with your trust education or pastoral teams for more information.

Other

  • Improving the personal safety of lone workers | NHS Employers - This guidance outlines what your employers should do to improve the personal safety of lone workers and what you can do to protect yourself.
  • Code of Conduct  - A Code of Conduct is in place for HCSWs and adult social care workers in England. It sets out the minimum requirements of how HCSWs and adult social care workers should behave at work and is in place to help them to provide safe, effective and compassionate care and support. 
  • Top tips for healthy eating (Slimming World) - We’re all aware of the importance of eating a healthy, balanced diet, but with busy jobs, family commitments and limited time, making it a reality can sometimes seem impossible – something that was highlighted in the RCM’s Caring for You survey.
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