Mental health in the workplace
The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines mental health as a state of mental wellbeing that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realise their abilities, learn well, work well and contribute to their community.
Fluctuations in mental health throughout our lives are normal, and recovery from mental ill health is more likely when people receive the right help at the right time. According to NHS Digital, mental ill health accounts for over 20 per cent of sickness absence in the NHS. NHS trusts should have supportive initiatives in place to ensure staff mental wellbeing in the workplace and to maintain the quality of patient care.
This guidance provides support for organisations to address staff wellbeing at work. It also offers additional resources and a mental health in the workplace infographic with key facts and statistics for sharing and downloading.
Supporting your staff
Decreased emotional wellbeing among staff can contribute to increased mental health and stress concerns. It's therefore vital staff understand the factors which affect mental health and have regular wellbeing conversations with their managers. Managers must have the right skills to support these conversations and be able to respond compassionately to individual needs.
Leaders also have an important role here, in reinforcing positive attitudes around mental health, shifting mindsets and influencing organisational culture through encouraging positive behaviours.
We generally find it easier to recognise and talk about physical health, but find talking about emotional wellbeing to be more of a challenge. Organisations can facilitate this by:
- raising awareness of mental health
- educating their people on this topic
- having the right resources in place to encourage open conversations
- working to beat the stigma about mental health.
The NHS Better Health, every mind matters hub has a free Your Mind Plan quiz. Use this for yourself or signpost to your colleagues. Answer five simple questions to get your personalised mental health action plan, with tips and advice to help you look after your mental health and wellbeing.
Supporting ambulance staff
With over 14,000 emergency services staff and volunteers, research shows that it is particularly important for people in the ambulance service to look after their mental wellbeing.
Research from Mind shows that:
- ambulance service staff are more at risk of developing a mental health issue than the general population
- 91 per cent of ambulance service staff have experienced stress and poor mental health at work
- ambulance service staff and volunteers work hard to prevent mental health problems from affecting their performance at work, but this can impact relationships with friends and family.
There is a range of resources available to support staff to ensure they are prioritising their mental health.
Mind offers a range of support and information specifically for those working within the emergency services.
While the Association of Ambulance Chief Executive also offers a wide suite of ambulance wellbeing resources, including comprehensive mental maintenance toolkits for both staff and managers.
Understanding risk factors around mental health
Both personal circumstances and the workplace environment can contribute to how staff feel.
Although it is often impossible to change external circumstances, workplaces can often help ease pressures through negating workplace risk factors and ensuring supportive practices and procedures. Educating staff about risk factors is the first step to achieving this.
According to the WHO, these can include:
- poor communication and management practices
- lack of support for staff
- inflexible working hours
- unclear tasks or organisational objectives
- limited autonomy or decision-making power
- unclear job roles or organisational objectives.
In addition, burnout, loneliness and moral injury are recognised as risk factors that have significantly impacted on the mental health of NHS staff, particularly in the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Embedding protective factors
Protective factors help negate the risk factors to poor mental health. Below we have outlined what organisations can do to achieve this:
Supporting our NHS people with moral injury
Moral injury can occur when staff feel they have done something they should not have done; did not do something they should have; or were betrayed by others (often a higher authority). The below section provides more details:
Addressing workplace loneliness
The Mental Health Foundation says there are strong links between loneliness and mental health. Research by Jung et al (2021) demonstrates that workplace loneliness is harmful to both employees and employers, and can negatively impact on staff engagement. For further details, read the government's Employers and loneliness guidance.
Organisations can help combat workplace loneliness by actively ensuring staff can form healthy long-term relationships with their co-workers. The Campaign to End Loneliness advises five key factors which can help achieve this:
Staff experience and the Long Term Workforce plan
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan has emphasised the importance of retaining our valued NHS workforce. Employers should be looking at their wellbeing offer and critically evaluating the experience of staff through all stages of their careers. A positive staff experience and a rounded support offer are vital to encouraging staff to remain in the workplace.
Mental health in the workplace infographic
Our downloadable infographic provides fully up-to-date statistics and facts around mental wellbeing in the workplace. Employers can use the infographic to raise awareness of the importance of positive mental wellbeing at work, or as part of a business case to further your workforce mental wellbeing agenda.
