Find the support you need - help at a glance

If you or someone you work with is struggling with your mental health or emotional wellbeing, we have lots of resources to help you to stay well. Have a look at the at-a-glance list of links on this page to quickly find the right support for you.

 

Menopause resources

Menopause resources for colleagues

We’ve pulled together the list of handy menopause resources below to provide information and support for those experiencing the menopause.

They may also be useful if you know someone who is experiencing perimenopause or menopause, or you want to understand more about what it feels like to experience it.

Please let us know if there’s anything else you think we could add by using the feedback form at the bottom of this page.

General resources about the menopause

Resources about menopause symptoms

Resources about staying well during the menopause

If you work in health or care across West Yorkshire and are experiencing feelings that are difficult to cope with, our mental health and wellbeing hub is here to help. You can self-refer yourself confidentially to the hub or alternatively, you can email wyicb-wyh.mentalwellbeinghub@nhs.net to arrange a wellbeing check-in.

Resources about menopause in the workplace

Resources about speaking to your GP during the menopause

Menopause resources for line managers and HR teams

As people managers and health and care leaders, we are responsible for ensuring we support our colleagues through every stage of their life.

Below are a selection of resources that can help people and HR managers to provide compassionate and informed support for colleagues experiencing the menopause.

Other resources

Useful resources, guides and practical tips on a variety of topics including Schwartz Rounds, homeworking and learning.

 

Schwartz Rounds

Schwartz Rounds

Schwartz Round image.jpgSchwartz Rounds provide a structured forum where all staff, clinical and non-clinical, come together regularly to discuss the emotional and social aspects of working in healthcare.

The purpose of Rounds is to understand the challenges and rewards that come with providing care, it is not to solve problems or to focus on the clinical aspects of patient care.

Rounds can help people feel more supported in their jobs, allowing them the time and space to reflect on their roles. Evidence shows that staff who attend Rounds feel less stressed and isolated, with increased insight and appreciation for each other’s roles. They also help to reduce hierarchies between staff and to focus attention on relational aspects of care.

The underlying premise for Rounds is that the compassion shown by staff can make all the difference to a patient’s experience of care, but that in order to provide compassionate care staff must, in turn, feel supported in their work.

What’s in a name?

In 1994 Ken Schwartz was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.  During his treatment, he found that what mattered to him most as a patient were the simple acts of kindness from his caregivers, which he said made “the unbearable bearable.”  Before his death, he left a legacy for the establishment of the Schwartz Center in Boston, USA to help to foster compassion in healthcare.

“I have learned that medicine is not merely about performing tests or surgeries, or administering drugs… For as skilled and knowledgeable as my caregivers are, what matters most is that they have empathized with me in a way that gives me hope and makes me feel like a human being, not just an illness.”

Read Ken’s story here.

Schwartz Rounds were brought to the UK in 2009, beginning in relatively large organisations providing acute care, but are now operating in a range of different settings, supported by the Point of Care Foundation, including:

  • community and mental health trusts
  • hospices
  • primary care
  • educational settings

Watch

Hospital Chief Executive Suzanne Rankin talks about why she brought Schwartz Rounds into her organisation: https://youtu.be/JWxksG0Kq2E

A Schwartz Round in action at St Joseph’s Hospice. https://youtu.be/ftBXbvSkuX8

A Schwartz Round at a hospital trust https://youtu.be/0VfSkjGZAeY

Schwartz Rounds in West Yorkshire

Our ambition is to have Schwartz Rounds running in each of our places in West Yorkshire, and in as many organisations, large and small, as possible.

Schwartz Rounds are for everyone – if you work in a care home, a voluntary organisation in your community, a GP practice, a hospital or any other organisation that provides health or social care, you can start or take part in a Schwartz Round. We have a central team in each place that can help you with all the resources and training you need to help you and your colleagues get the most from this enriching experience.

No matter what your organisation does, the support and training you get to bring your Schwartz Round to life is free. You don’t have to work in frontline care – people in support roles need Schwartz too.

https://youtu.be/_CuxfCNDQ30

How to get involved

Each of our places in West Yorkshire has a dedicated person who can help you to set up a Schwartz Round, or find you a place on a Round that is already taking place in your organisation.

You can contact your local representative by emailing: wyicb-bdc.wyh.mentalwellbeinghub@nhs.net

Feedback from Schwartz Rounds in West Yorkshire

I've attended at least 4 Schwartz rounds. As a non-clinical member of staff I am far-removed from what goes on "behind closed doors" in consultation rooms, wards etc however, at the rounds I got more of a sense of the real-life situations that are dealt with on a daily basis, more than that, how resilient and selfless staff have been in traumatising situations.   I felt like I was more part of the hospital, that I had an awareness of what is so day-to-day for some people; it is very humbling. I also realised that at, whatever level you are, clinician non-clinical, I still had something to contribute during my working day, and this made me feel that I also, in a small way make a difference. When I left each meeting I felt like we were one big team.

Medical Secretary, Mid-Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust

Carl Betts, a paramedic from Yorkshire Ambulance Service, has shared his candid account of dropping his armour to speak openly at a Schwartz Round. Read Carl's story.

Other resources - homeworking

Adapting to homeworking can be unfamiliar and impactful. The following resources offer guidance and help:


Getting the right support

As someone who works or volunteers in health and care services, you know that you and your team have been at the forefront of the Covid19 pandemic. Your efforts may have come at a personal cost to your mental health and wellbeing. 

If you are worried about your mental or emotional wellbeing, you can use the self-referral option into our psychological assessment and therapy service, specially set up to help you. 

The self-referral process asks you to complete a couple of questionnaires that might help you decide if such support would be useful for you at this time. If you choose to proceed, you can fill in a referral form that asks you to share a bit of information with us so that we can match your needs with a therapist that is best placed to help you. 

You must complete the form yourself as it asks about your personal experience. The information will be forwarded securely to our therapy team who will seek to be in touch with you within 72 hours (excluding bank holidays) with next steps. 

If you would prefer to have an initial conversation with a trained listener about your situation or would like help to complete the referral form, please call 0800 183 1488.

The MindEd COVID-19 Resilience Hub has content designed to be rapidly accessible and provide quick help when needed. 

Try the Every Mind Matters Quiz - 5 questions in this interactive quiz to get top tips and advice for you.
 

Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) services

Most people won’t need to access psychological therapies, but it is important to get help if you need it. If you have been exposed to highly stressful, traumatic or frightening experiences at work you are more likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).


Symptoms include reliving what has happened through vivid dreams or flashbacks, feeling very anxious, angry, irritable and guilty. Some people will feel low in mood, have trouble sleeping and have physical symptoms.

For many people these symptoms will improve over time, but if they don’t improve after one month, you can be referred, or self-refer for psychological therapy. Services will also work with you if you are suffering from depression or anxiety.


You can get help from the Samaritans, on freephone 116 123.

Reliance in times of stress
 

Support for families and carers

  • Our Working Carers section has been designed to help working carers look after the person they care for, and themselves, during these unprecedented times. The areas covered are:

Money worries;
Your rights as an employee;
Looking after your mental health;
Looking after your physical health;
Healthy eating;
Looking after the person you care for;
Looking after children's mental and physical health; and
Trying to get back to 'normal'.​

  • Relationship Matters - When two people share responsibility for a child, no matter whether they are still together or separated, the relationship between them has a direct impact on the mental health of their children.
  • Domestic violence - The stress of lockdown means that domestic violence is on the rise. If this is happening to you a friend or a family member it's important to know that you are not alone please this Domestic Violence Information Sheet for support and further help.
  • To help you think about the different ways and people that can help you in an emergency, if you look after someone who couldn’t manage without your support.
  • The Hub is offering a new support group as part of our Critical Incident Staff Support Pathway (CrISSP). We know that events at work can impact on home and personal relationships. If this describes you or colleagues you know and you would be interested in attending a small group with other staff who have been impacted in this way please have a look at this poster and register your interest with us at wyicb-bdc.wyh.mentalwellbeinghub@nhs.net

Resources for colleagues from ethnic minority backgrounds

As part of the national health and wellbeing programme for our NHS people, and working in collaboration with our staff networks, we have developed a number of bespoke support offers for NHS colleagues from ethnic minority backgrounds.


BAME Network Podcast:

'Can You Hear Me?' is a new podcast giving a voice to the diverse talent working to improve health and care for people in West Yorkshire, presented by our Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Staff Network.

click image to listenEpisode 1 is presented by network member Fatima Khan-Shah, Programme Lead for the Unpaid Carers and Personalised Care Programmes.

Fatima was joined by some fantastic people to get the series underway, including Dr Sal Uka, Medical Lead for The West Yorkshire Association of Acute Trusts; Dr Habib Naqvi; Deputy Director for the NHS Workforce Race Equality Standard at NHS England; Yvonne Coghill,  Director for WRES Implementation at NHS England, and Nyoka Fothergill, Leeds City Council.
Listen to episode 1 here.


Click image to listenEpisode 2 is about carers, ahead of Carers Week which starts on
Monday 8 June 2020

It features presenter Mo Sattar, a GP in Leeds and member of the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership's BAME Staff Network, in conversation with Owen Williams OBE, Chief Executive at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust, and Sherone Phillips from the Palliative and End of Life Team within the Personalised Care Group at NHS England, who is also a carer herself.
Listen to episode 2 here.


Click image to listenEpisode 3 is about white privilege

Usha Kaushal, Lead Pharmacist and an Operational Lead at Yorkshire Ambulance Service, leads the discussion with Samantha Allen, Chief Executive of Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Wallace Sampson, Chief Executive of Harrogate Borough Council and Rob Webster, Lead CEO for West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership and Chief Executive at South West Yorkshire Partnership Foundation Trust.
Listen to episode 3 here.


Can you hear me 4 snip.JPGEpisode 4 is around workforce issues

Delphine Arinze from The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust talks with Uduak Archibong, Professor of Diversity at the University of Bradford, Kez Hayat from Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Sayed Ahmed from Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. Conversation on this episode was centred around workforce issues and the experience of being from a Black, Asian and minority ethnic community in the health and care workforce.
Listen to episode 4 here.

 


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For further information, guidance and training on risk assessment please see the following resources:

Information for Care Home workers

Staff in care homes, whether Council or privately owned, are part of our West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership. The COVID 19 pandemic has been especially challenging for those working and volunteering in care homes, whatever their role - from the lack of PPE, to anxieties around protecting loved ones and those they care for, the relentless pressure on keeping residents safe has taken its toll. Whilst we are hopefully coming out the other side of the pandemic, we know that this brings rise to other concerns such as anxieties around vaccinations, impact of losing people they have cared for or struggled with the level of care they have been able to provide.

The Staff Mental Health and Wellbeing Hub has produced a newsletter for care homes which you can read here together with a covering letter from our consultant psychologists.

We have also recorded a podcast about the issues and challenges facing care home staff as a result of the pandemic. You can listen to that here