East Renfrewshire HSCP

NHSGGC - Wellbeing in East Renfrewshire HSCP

We were delighted with the iMatter results in East Renfrewshire HSCP, where we saw an increase in response rates and action planning engagement, whilst also maintaining a really positive engagement score.

We were particularly pleased to see that we’d had good feedback from staff against the iMatter wellbeing questions. This was due to the big effort we’ve made in the HSCP in ensuring staff are aware of the wide range of options available to them to support good mental health and overall wellbeing at work.

One way we’ve been showcasing our wellbeing activity is through our regular Staff Wellbeing newsletter with targeted articles on key issues e.g. alcohol awareness, stress at work, financial advice. These kept staff updated on any upcoming classes and sessions, as well as providing access to information and resources which covered a wide range of topics.

During the summer months, we rolled out a programme under our “Summer of Wellness” brand. Creating this brand allowed us to bring together a whole range of opportunities for staff in one place, including yoga, fitness classes, 121 wellbeing conversations etc. The uptake for these was fantastic and feedback from staff was extremely positive. We’re now building on that success and are rolling out a new “Winter of Wellness” programme during November and December.

Something that really helped us maintain the focus on wellbeing over this period has been our newly appointed Wellbeing Officer – Gerry Mitchell - who has led on promoting and improving the mental health and physical wellbeing of our workforce. Gerry says:

“My role as Health and Wellbeing Lead Officer has been to build a proactive and preventative wellbeing offer across the HSCP for all our staff.

It's important for staff to have access to resources that supports holistic wellbeing, with a particular focus on mitigating the effects of work-related stress.

Recent years have been particularly challenging for health and social care staff and volunteers. During this time, it has been more important than ever that we continue to offer an effective and sustainable approach to staff/volunteer wellbeing so that they feel valued and supported at work.

(Gerry Mitchell, Health and Wellbeing Lead Officer, East Renfrewshire HSCP)