As part of #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek, today I met with UHDB Wellbeing Champions, who work not only at at Royal Derby Hospital but across the whole Trust, to support the mental health of our incredible frontline keyworker #NHS staff.
It was so insightful to hear what it has been like over the last year, including the difficulties not only of working from home but of training fellow staff members virtually, struggles with isolation and of contracting Covid-19 and the difficulties that can sometimes exist when talking about mental health, specifically or generally.
But it was also so wonderful to hear about all the positive, creative and inventive things the Wellbeing Champions and Wellbeing Department have been doing to help staff, including Strava challenges, reading groups, exercise sessions, getting back to nature and sign posting initiatives. These have received much positive feedback and significant engagements, and it is so brilliant to know that their efforts are reaping such rewards and that so many members of staff are feeling the benefits of these activities.
I have always been a champion of the importance of looking after your mental health, and I will be working closely with the #wellbeing team over the coming months and years to support their activities and ideas and help improve mental health for their team and the wider public.
#mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #mentalhealthmatters #wellbeingchampions #hospital #nursesweek #teamwork #mindfulness
