Looking after our own mental health and well-being is so important to ensure that we are resilient and we are able to care for our patients and colleagues.

Its been a tough few years and we know that staff need support, we also understand that working in the care industry can have an impact on your mental health without the external circumstances that we have worked through. 

Check your emotional and mental well-being: 

https://checkwellbeing.leadershipacademy.nhs.uk/

We have a wealth of information on the occupational health pages to help you with your mental health. Spend some time and look through the Psychological support booklet for support and advice. 

Trauma-Focused Staff Resources

The Trauma-Focused Well-being Plan and supporting documents are designed for staff who may be going through difficulties with their well-being because of trauma. It aims to help staff members think about how their difficulties may be impacting them and to identify any support that may be helpful in the workplace. It aims to support staff to manage their wellbeing inside and outside of work and create a platform from which conversations about wellbeing and adjustments can happen.

Guidance for Supporting Staff 

Trauma Focused Wellbeing Plan

Understanding Trauma Staff Support

Switching Off from Work Workshops

The workshop consists of three sessions which focus on the impact of work stressors, the barriers to switching off from work stressors and findings ways to look after your wellbeing in and out of work.

Switching Off Workshop - Learning to Switch Off Session 1

Switching Off Workshop - Learning to Switch Off Session 2

Switching Off Workshop - Learning to Switch Off Session 3

Psychology Service:

We are very fortunate to have a staff psychology and counselling service within our trust.

You can self refer for psychological support or if you are a manager you can request support on behalf of your staff (with consent) and support can also be requests for a team. 

Self referral:

https://www.liverpoolft.nhs.uk/professionals/occupational-health-and-wellbeing/psychology-and-counselling-service-referral-form

Process: 

  • Fill in the referral form 
  • Contact will be made by telephone by our associate psychological practitioner who will ask you some questions and triage you to the appropriate therapist/ service. 
  • Sessions can be completed in person/ telephone/ TEAM's 
  • Therapy includes: 
  • The service is completely confidential. With your consent the psychologist can liaise with other professionals or your line manager to assist with any work related difficulties. 
  • Onward referrals may be completed. 

Staff Psychology Service - Our Offer

If you are accepted by Staff Support Services to engage in a course of talking therapy, this will be funded fully by your employer, Liverpool University Hospitals.

Whilst some of our counsellors and clinical psychologists are fully qualified and accredited, we also have trainee and assistant psychologists and counsellors working with the team who might be involved in your therapy.  They will always be closely supervised by qualified clinicians.

Psychologists and counsellors are trained to work with people experiencing a wide variety of problems.  A therapist can work with you to help you to understand the troubles you are having and find ways of overcoming them or coping with them more effectively.

Psychological therapy can help you make changes in the way you think, feel and respond to the challenges you are facing.

What we offer

You will be offered up to 6 sessions.  These sessions will last 50 minutes.  You may not need all of these sessions and if you find you have got what you need out of less than this number, you are free to end the course of therapy by advising us.

What we ask of you

If you need to cancel or rearrange a session, please give us 24 hours notice, if possible, by e-mailing occupational.health@liverpoolft.nhs.uk   As this service is in great demand, this will allow us to offer the appointment to someone else.

If you miss an appointment without contacting us before the appointment is due to start, this will count as one of those sessions.  You will have 2 working days to e-mail occupational.health@liverpoolft.nhs.uk to arrange another appointment and if we do not hear from you we will assume you no longer need our help and will discharge your referral.

If you miss 2 appointments in this way, we will not offer you another and will discharge your referral.

Confidentiality

All sessions are confidential and all information that is stored has an extra level of security to ensure your privacy.

There are two situations in which the therapist will have to break confidentiality:

  • If a court of law instructs them to
  • If you tell them something that makes them concerned that you or someone else is at risk of serious harm

If you want to know more about confidentiality, it is a good idea to ask your therapist early on so they can explain the system to you and answer any questions.  They will always let you know if they will need to break confidentiality.

Goal setting

This will enable us to have a focus for our work and allow us to assess if we are making progress. Knowing what your expectations are and what you may like to achieve will facilitate this.

Assessment

During your counselling you may be asked to complete a brief questionnaire. This information allows us to provide statistical information and to assess the effectiveness of the service we offer. Any feedback is welcome. If there is anything you would like to discuss or any questions at all, please mention at your next session.

If you have any concerns regarding your counselling, you can speak to your therapist or you can contact our Consultant Clinical Psychologist & Professional Lead, Jane Hutton.

Jane.Hutton@liverpoolft.nhs.uk

Please be aware that you do not have to accept support from this service, even if you have previously agreed that it could be helpful to you.  You may wish to explore other services outside of the LUHFT offer.  Alternative options include:

 Access Talking Therapies (self-referral):

 Liverpool (Talk Liverpool - Can we help you),

Support groups:

 Mind (Find Peer Support where you live - Mind) / (Side by Side: our online community - Mind),

Samaritans (Contact Us | Samaritans), or call 116 123 / they also offer NHS staff support: 0800 069 6222

The Hub of Hope is an amazing website / app that allows you to search specific support within your area (https://hubofhope.co.uk/)

 

If you are in a crisis, you can ring the Merseycare 24/7 helpline.

Liverpool and Sefton, this is 0800 145 6570

Halton, Knowsley, St Helens and Warrington, it is 0800 051 1508