Wellbeing support 

We have bespoke wellbeing packs depending on where you are training, take a look to access resources and gain the support you need in your area:

East Midlands - wellbeing support pack

West Midlands - wellbeing support pack

East of England - wellbeing support pack

North West - wellbeing support pack

South West - wellbeing support pack

Thames Valley - wellbeing support pack

Yorkshire and Humber - wellbeing support pack

Our duty to you

There may be times during your training when you need to access wellbeing support. As your employer, we can help you during your time of need. 

We promote a positive, enabling attitude towards both current and new colleagues-in-training facing wellbeing difficulties, striving to ensure that you feel safe when sharing your concerns with us and have access to advice and counselling as early as possible.

• Employee wellbeing self-referral

  It is incredibly important that you make time for your own wellbeing and mental health to support both your work and life balance.

  During your training you may feel the need to make a self-referral through to our Health, Work and Wellbeing (HWWB) Department.

  Our colleague-in-training wellbeing referral system allows you to make a self-referral within minutes to our HWWB Team, who will then action your request with specialised care and support. You can do this by clicking on the link below.

  Submit your self-referral form

  For further support on this process, please take a look at the guidance below that highlights the difference between a self-referral request and a management referral request and what this means for you as a colleague-in-training. 

  Click here to access our guidance document. 

• Practitioner Health Programme

  Practitioner Health is a free, confidential NHS service for doctors and dentists across England who are experiencing mental health or addiction problems and looking to return to clinical practice. The service can help with issues relating to a mental health concern, including stress, depression or addiction problems, in particular where these might affect work. The service is provided by health professionals specialising in mental health support to doctors and is available in various locations across England.

• Employee Assistance Programme

  Our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) is a staff advice, information & counselling service that covers a range of areas including; Legal, financial, family, stress and work.

  Call 0300 131 2067

  (24 hours a day, 7 days a week)

  Access code: STHKWELL

   

• Wellbeing resources booklets

  We have put together a range of useful links and resources to support your own wellbeing. 

  Please take a look at our wellbeing booklet or and wellbeing support pack.

  In addition, please take a look at the following Supporting Our NHS People guide that offers additional wellbeing resources and support that is available to all NHS employees. 

• Dyslexia screening

  Do you feel you have traits of dyslexia and would like to take a short test to highlight a potential diagnosis?

  Please refer to our Dyslexia section in Supporting Disability in the Workplace.

  If you would like to access further support and information, you can visit the British Dyslexia Association, the NHS' website on Dyslexia and the Dyslexia Association. They contain specific information and guidance tailored for dyslexia.

• Financial wellbeing support

  Financial Wellbeing Guides

  We know that this is a difficult time for our NHS people and that financial concerns have consistently been one of the top reasons that colleagues seek external support. Please see some useful guides below to highlight information around financial support:

  • Lead Employer guide to financial wellbeing 
  • Mersey and West Lancashire Wellbeing team's useful guide.
  • NHS North West Wellbeing team's  useful guide.

  The team shares handy tips on how to make your money go further alongside links and resources to additional support. There's also a reminder on those all-important NHS offers and discounts that you have access to as an NHS colleague.

   

  Energy Price Rises 

  As energy prices continue to rise and more increases are planned throughout the rest of the year, it is important to be aware of the latest information and guidance available including any support that you may be entitled to. Please use the links below to find out the latest information:

  Guidance from Martin Lewis's Money Saving Expert website: Gas, Electric & Water Guides - MoneySavingExpert

  OFGEM: Getting help if you can't afford your energy bills | Ofgem

  Help for Households

  Cost of Living

   

• Carer support

  If you care for another person, it can feel difficult to take time to look after yourself. Access stories of peoples experiences on caring for someone else, find support for your own personal mental health and additional resources by visiting the Mind website and Carers UK.

   

• NHS England mental health toolkit

  Written by Dr Matthew Palethorpe - Core Anaesthetics trainee and endorsed by both NHS England and ourselves at Lead Employer, we would like to share a toolkit that aims to support trainee colleagues during long term sick leave with mental health illness.

  Helping you to gain the most amount of help and support during an extremely difficult time, the toolkit provides advice on areas such as occupational health, practitioner health, counselling and it also explores areas such as return to work planning, keep in-touch days and less than full time training.

  You can find read the toolkit in full here.

• National self-check tool

  The National People Team has launched a self-check tool to support staff health and wellbeing.

  It's important to ensure colleague-in-training are looking after themselves and receive timely support should they need it. This in turn can help to support patient care and prevent staff sickness. The free and confidential self-check tool can provide you with further information on the range of support offers that are available and help you identify which option is the right one for you to access.

   

  Benefits to the self-check tool include:

  • The tool is free and confidential, and can be used by all health and social care staff to assess their mental wellbeing.
  • Users have the option to share their answers with their local hub if they wish to directly self-refer through the tool, however this will only be done with the users explicit consent.
  • Users can also complete the tool anonymously and decide not to share their answers with anyone.
  • The tool promotes mental health awareness and self-care, as well as providing a direct way to get in contact with your local mental health and wellbeing hub if needed.

   

  Please click here to visit the self-check tool.

   

• Physical wellbeing

  Physio Med Self Referral

  If you have a musculoskeletal injury and need physiotherapy, you can refer to Physio Med for treatment.

  Guidance can be found here: 

  Physiomed_Online_Referral_Guide.pdf on how to complete this referral, either yourself or on behalf of an colleague-in-training.

  You can register and Refer here: Physio Med Referral

  You will receive a phone call from Physio Med within 48 hours to triage your injury, who will provide advice and treatment/exercises to help you with your recovery and contact you again to assess if you are improving.

  Health, Work and Wellbeing (HWWB) will be sent a report following your treatment and you may be offered an appointment to assess if any adjustments are required to support you in work.

  If you require face to face physiotherapy, Physio Med will refer you directly to the Trust Physiotherapy Team. 

• BMA wellbeing support services

  The British Medical Association (BMA) have wellbeing support services across all regions of the UK which you can access!

  There are hundreds of services which you can utilise for free.

  To find out more information and details for your region, please click here.

• Wellbeing resource overview poster

  You can find a range of valuable cost of living support and mental health resources on our wellbeing support poster.

External support and resources

Gambling addiction support

• Gamblers anonymous
• NHS - help for problems with gambling
• Be gamble aware
• The Hub of Hope - mental health support next provided by Chasing the Stigma

Guidance on improving sleep & preparing for night shifts

Working at night is an essential part of providing a comprehensive 24-hour service to patients in the NHS. However, night work requires doctors to remain awake and alert when physiologically programmed to be asleep.

Click here for tips, information and resources that could help you working at night.

Maximus service

The Maximus Access to Work Mental Health Support Service is funded by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). The service is designed to improve wellbeing at work and provides valuable resources related to anxiety, depression, stress, loneliness and more.

You can also find a range of other useful wellbeing resources to support you below:

Menopause support

The menopause can be associated with many physical and emotional changes for women, and this can make it a challenging and complicated time.

Menopause Support has launched a guidance booklet “Understanding Menopause” to support women to better understand and navigate Menopause.