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Staff Support and Wellbeing

COVID-19 Response

Latest information on COVID-19, attending appointments and visiting arrangements.

In NHS Forth Valley we care about the health and wellbeing of our people. Our staff are currently working in very challenging times. It is important that we look after ourselves and each other. This section provides you with details of support and listening services available to all staff. 

For wellbeing resources to support yourself, your colleagues and your staff visit the Wellbeing Resources page.

The Sanctuary

The library at FVRH is now a sanctuary for staff. Please come and have a tea or coffee, sit and be quiet, or chat to someone (psychologists and psychiatrists available there during weekdays if you’d like to have a listening ear), and find out about relaxation, mindfulness and other support sessions available. Please check with your manager about similar support in other Forth Valley hospital sites.

Psychological First Aid

Do you want to focus on self-care, maintaining resilience, positive coping and mental wellbeing on a 1:1 basis? Sessions are based on an internationally recognised appropriate form of support to be provided to frontline staff at this stage. Please book a 30 minute telephone or video based session with a clinical health psychologist or counsellor who routinely works in acute or primary care settings by calling 01324 614387.

Please note that this is not individual counselling/therapy, nor does it involve a detailed discussion of events that caused distress. For a poster on these and additional resources download Staff Support During COVID-19.

Psychology Informed Staff Support sessions – details of the training sessions which local clinical health psychologists can facilitate for local managers, departments, services or teams.

Coaching

Staff in all areas within NHS Forth Valley can access coaching. We have accredited coaches who can provide a confidential safe space and an opportunity where you have time to think and reflect on your thoughts and feelings. Coaching can support you with your health and wellbeing to increase resourcefulness and resilience in times of stress. Coaching can be face-to-face or remotely by phone, or video conference. If you are interested in having a coach, please contact margaret.kerr4@nhs.net or phone 07854447015.

External online coaches can also be accessed via the National Wellbeing Hub, which is supported by NES. To find out more go to www.knowyoumore.com/wellbeingcoaching.

Virtual Staff Room

The Virtual Staff Room (VSR) is a space for you to spend time with colleagues online while we can’t connect in person. This can be a team social event (eg pub quiz) or if we had a group who were keen to start a book group or other interest group we could facilitate this. It is currently running on a Thursday evening for staff who are shielding, but can be facilitated for other groups on request.

If you or your team would like to get involved get in touch with Sarah Miller to discuss.

Upcoming dates for shielding staff VSR are as follows:

  • Thursday 30th July 7pm

How do I join in?

If you would like to join one of the sessions in the Virtual Staff Room, click on the link below which will open the channel in MS Teams. When the session opens, a button will come up to join the meeting, click on this and you will be able to join the session remotely.

Medical Peer support

Forth Valley Medical Peer Support Network provides peer support for non training grade secondary care doctors working in NHS Forth Valley (e.g. Consultant, Staff grade, Associate Specialist, Specialty Doctor). It is provided by a group of trained senior Doctors who are willing to listen to and talk with a colleague seeking peer support. The conversation is confidential and no records are kept. You can find more information about the service, who the Peer Supporters are and how to contact your chosen Peer Supporter on the Medical Peer Support page of the staff intranet.

Peer Support Service for Doctors-in-Training (DiT)

We have our very own peer support service for doctors-in-training. This service aims to provide a non-judgemental listening ear if you are having problems or experiencing tough situations in life. We also highlight resources or services that might be helpful. This service is completely confidential.

There is a peer support account (fv-uhb.DiTsupport@nhs.net) you can email which can only be accessed by the peer supporters.

Alternatively, you can choose to email us individually.  One of us will get in touch with you within 48-72 hours, Monday – Friday, 9am-5pm. We can then arrange to meet in person or talk over the phone.

Who are the peer supporters?

Spiritual Care and Support

The Staff Support Hotline provides a safe and confidential space for staff to talk about what’s going on for them at moment. A member of the spiritual care team will triage calls, provide immediate support for those who need it and allocate less urgent cases to other team members who will call staff members back to schedule phone appointments. This service is available during working hours, Monday to Friday. A limited “drop-in” service is also available. Staff members who need immediate support may come along to the spiritual care centre at FVRH (during working hours, Monday to Friday).

The Staff Support Hotline number is 07824 460882.

Online Stress Control Classes

Many of you will be familiar with Stress Control which runs throughout the year for staff and residents. Whilst we are currently unable to access this you can view similar information on managing anxiety and stress via Step on Stress which has been produced by NHS Fife Psychology Service. It is recommended that to get the maximum benefit from this course to watch all four sessions in running order (1-4).

Accessing Support

We recognise that on occasion staff may need to access support outwith their own health board. If you think this would be helpful or applies to you please discuss this in the first instance with Robert Clark, Employee Director by email at robertclark@nhs.net or phone on 0773 679 9350, or Elaine Bell Head of Human Resources at e.bell@nhs.net

Trickle

Sign Up to NHS Forth Valley on the Trickle platform. Trickle is a mobile/web app that gives staff a voice: to highlight things that work well, suggest changes and see the feedback as ideas are shared and discussed. It takes no more than 60 seconds to get up and running, and you are guided through the process of logging in to either the web or mobile apps using this link.

The Team ID you need to sign in to the mobile app for the first time is: nhs-forth-valley.

NOTE: The PIN code process to sign in is only needed the first time you use the web or mobile apps.

Once you’re logged in, get involved! This is your chance to share ideas, start conversations and vote on what is most important to all staff in NHS Forth Valley. We can then use this to make things better for patients, colleagues, and ourselves.

Trade Unions and Professional Bodies

Many Trade Unions and Professional Bodies are offering additional support resources and services at this time. Contact them to find out what is available.

National

  • Royal College of Nursing – 0345 772 6100
  • Royal College of Midwives – 0300 303 0444
  • Unite the Union – contact for Forth Valley is Sandy Smart, Regional Officer – 01315569676/07810157927
  • UNISON – membershipassistancescotland@unison.co.uk
  • British Dietetic Association – 0121 200 8080
    (British Dietetic Association,  3rd Floor Interchange Place, 151-165 Edmund Street, Birmingham, B3 2TA)

Local

Scottish Government Toolkit

Are you an NHS staff member experiencing financial hardship during COVID-19?

Please remember if you are experiencing financial hardship yourself then you can also get support from Scotland’s Citizens Advice helpline. You can find out information about accessing your local money advice service through the local authority in which you reside by checking out your council website.

The National Wellbeing Hub also has financial advice on their website to help cope with money worries at home.

Domestic Abuse

If you or someone you know are experiencing domestic abuse or other forms of violence and control at home, support and services are still available and operating.

If you don’t feel safe at home, you should visit the National Wellbeing Hub for a list of useful contact numbers and resources.

Please also see our policy on Gender-Based Violence.

COVID-19 Staff Wellbeing Surveys

The COVID-19 Resilience Project

NHS Forth Valley is participating in a national online survey to explore the immediate and longer term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the psychological and emotional wellbeing of NHS staff. The COVID-19 Resilience Project is a UK-wide confidential survey of NHS staff whose job role involves care provision and patient contact (including face-to-face, telephone, or online contact). This research is being led by Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Manchester and the findings will be used to inform the development of mental health and wellbeing support services for NHS staff now and in the coming months.

To take part click here. The survey will take around 30mins to complete. To help record recruitment from our NHS Board, it would be helpful if you could include our name on the survey when prompted, even if it’s an abbreviation.

For more information, see poster or visit the study website.

Assessing the mental health of healthcare staff during COVID-19

A global study from the University of Edinburgh aims to assess the mental health of healthcare staff during the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes all staff, not only doctors and nurses. The survey is completely anonymous, and is not collecting which hospital participants work in, but instead taking a snapshot of staff mental health across the UK (and beyond) during COVID-19, and the factors that affect it.

For more information, visit the study website.

NHS Forth Valley Staff Support and Wellbeing Group

Agroup has been created to oversee the development of services and support for staff across NHS Forth Valley. If you have any questions or want to find out more about the group contact Marian Smith, PA to Director of HR, on 01786 457275 or email mariansmith@nhs.net.

In an Emergency call 999 for health advice and reassurance call NHS24 on 111.
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