Overview
Do you work in primary care? We know it can be stressful and exhausting working in primary care with the increasing demand for NHS services across the country. This inevitably makes work life harder for workers. This page is here to support and provide resources for individuals who need it.
Staff Offers
NHS Staff Support and Wellbeing
NHS staff are often faced with stress and hard choices daily. While NHS staff are used to caring for others, it is important for them to take some time to look after their own health and wellbeing too. The health and wellbeing of all NHS staff is recognised as high priority within the industry.
Support for NHS Staff
NHS England provides various health and wellbeing programmes to specifically support the wellbeing of all NHS staff.
Support is offered to ensure health and social care staff are looking after themselves and getting the timely support if they need it.
Support offers includes: mental, physical and social needs.
Check my Emotional and Mental Wellbeing
A self-assessment for Health and Social care staff with a direct link to mental health support resources.
For more information: Check my wellbeing – Self-assess your psychological and emotional wellbeing
NHS Talking Therapies for Anxiety and Depression
Talking therapies, or psychological therapies, are effective and confidential treatments delivered by fully trained and accredited NHS practitioners.
They can help if you’re struggling with things like feelings of depression, excessive worry, social anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
For more information: NHS talking therapies for anxiety and depression – NHS
Practitioner Health
Practitioner Health is a free, confidential NHS Primary Care mental health and addiction service with expertise in treating health and care professionals.
For more information: Practitioner Health
Extra Support
Inspire Suffolk
Inspire Suffolk is a wellbeing service that offers virtual, face-to-face support and counselling to young people, aged 10-25 in Suffolk and North Essex, who need someone to talk to.
For more information: Wellbeing Service | Inspire
Suffolk And North East Essex ICS
Suffolk And North East Essex ICS provides short videos detailing where to access support in Suffolk and North East Essex for low mood, anxiety, mental health crisis and bereavement support.
For more information: Mental Health – Suffolk and North East Essex Wellbeing Support Services
Citizens Advice
Advice on benefits, debt, employment, housing, rising energy costs and consumer concerns.
For more information: Citizens Advice
Suffolk Wellbeing Service
The Suffolk wellbeing service offers a range of wellbeing services for those living in Suffolk.
For more information: Mental Health, Wellbeing and Emotional Support
Step Change
Step Change provides tailored advice based on your circumstances to help deal with your debts.
For more information: StepChange Debt Charity. Free Expert Debt Help & Advice
Hospices
The 3 hospices in the SNEE region – St Nicholas (West Suffolk), St Elizabeths (East Suffolk) and St Helena (North east Essex), offers support for their local populations and professionals.
- St Helena – What we offer | St Helena Hospice
- St Elizabeths – Supporting You – St Elizabeth Hospice
- St Nicholas – How can we help – St Nicholas Hospice Care website
Cruse
Cruse provides bereavement support.
For more information: Home – Cruse Bereavement Support
Suffolk Domestic Abuse Helpline
The Suffolk Domestic Abuse Helpline is here to help you if you’re a professional and need guidance, concerned about a friend/family member or colleague and need advice or a survivor of domestic abuse and need action.
Call: 0800 977 5690
For more information: Home | Suffolk | Suffolk Domestic Abuse Helpline
Essex Compass
A partnership of domestic abuse services providing a response in Essex.
Call: 0330 333 7 444 – Helpline available from 8 am to 8 pm weekdays and 8 am to 1 pm weekends.
For more information: About Compass
GP Support
The GP Support Hub offers support with personal or professional development for all practice staff. This includes issues like being stuck on moving forward with problems or opportunities.
For more information please contact the GP Support Hub: The GP Support Hub | Confidential support service for GPs
Contact Number: 0147 335 0820
Email: [email protected]
‘Looking After you’ – GP Support
The GP Support Hub offers coaching support which is available to all clinical and non-clinical primary care staff who work for the NHS or alongside them.
For more information: Looking After You | The GP Support Hub
Mentoring & Coaching – GP Support
GP-S is a non-emergency service providing peer to peer mentoring and coaching for people who are working within General Practice in Suffolk and North East Essex (SNEE) through SNEE Training Hub.
For more information: Mentoring & Coaching | The GP Support Hub
Wellbeing for GPs
BMA wellbeing provides a range of wellbeing and support services which are available to doctors, including 24/7 confidential counselling and peer support services.
For more information: Your wellbeing
Welcome Back To Work
Nothing with Welcome Back to Work is ‘one size fits all’, everything we do is to help you return to work tailored to your circumstances and evolves as your aspirations become clear.
For more information: About Us | Welcome Back To Work
Royal Medical Benevolent Fund
The RMBF provides support for doctors and their families through all stages of their career and beyond. Our help ranges from financial assistance in the form of grants to a telephone befriending scheme for those who may be isolated and in need of support.
For more information: Royal Medical Benevolent Fund – Help for Doctors in Need
Looking After Yourself
Importance of Self-Care
Looking after yourself is important because it effects your mood, performance at work, confidence and self-esteem and overall health and wellbeing. Taking some time to look after yourself will increase your quality of life and make work life improve drastically.
Self care resources can help an individual working in primary care improve their mental health and wellbeing. NHS England provide a detailed explanation for NHS staff on what self care means and how it can help people.
Resources For Self-Care
Therapy For You
Therapy For You is the NHS talking therapies service for North East and South East Essex.
Therapy For You aim to provide a service that gives people access to free, flexible and evidence-based mental health support.
For more information: About Therapy For You – NHS Mental Health Services
Mind
Mind provide a webpage with tips for everyday living with mental health problems. They have additional links to pages for Christmas and mental health, coping with distressing events in the news, housing and mental health and many more.
For more information: Tips for everyday living with a mental health problem – Mind
Suffolk LMC
Suffolk LMC provides various pastoral care health and wellbeing resources to help look after yourself.
For more information: Pastoral Care for GPs – Suffolk Local Medical Committee
Essex LMC
Essex LMC provides support for GPs and General Practice so that they can deliver safe and compassionate high quality care to their patients.
For more information: Home – Essex LMC
Cambs LMC
Cambs LMC provides support and pastoral care. They aim to help you know what you need to know and while they deal with day to day questions and queries from GPs and Practice Managers, they also frequently provide support on a broad spectrum of issues.
For more information: Support and Pastoral Care – Cambs LMC
Primary Care Careers
Primary Care Careers provides health and wellbeing resources which include: wellbeing tips, mental health and life’s challenges.
For more information: Support for primary care | Primary Care Careers
Kooth
Kooth is a free, safe and anonymous place for young people to find online support and counselling. Kooth provides health and wellbeing resources and much more.
For more information: Home – Kooth
Doctors in distress
Doctors in Distress focuses on supporting medical staff to prevent worsening of mental health issues.
For more information: Home – Doctors in Distress – Support For Healthcare Worker
Urgent Mental Health Crisis or Support
Importance of Mental Health
Mental health can impact your emotional, psychological, social wellbeing, the quality of a person’s mental health and how they adaptively they can cope with everyday stressors.
If you need help for a mental health crisis or emergency, you should get immediate expert advice and assessment.
It’s important to know that support services are available for you to access, whatever you’re going through.
Resources for Mental Health
Samaritans
24/7 confidential telephone support.
Telephone Number: 116 123
For more information: Samaritans | Every life lost to suicide is a tragedy | Here to listen
Support Service – NHS England
NHS England has introduced a confidential 24/7 text support service. The service can be accessed by texting SHOUT to 85258 and is available to all NHS colleagues who may have had a tough day, are feeling worried or overwhelmed, or have a lot on their mind and need to talk it through.
For more information: NHS England » Support available for our NHS people
Papyrus Hopeline
For children and young people under the age of 35 who are experiencing thoughts of suicide or For anyone concerned that a young person could be thinking about suicide – confidential support and practical advice.
Call: 0800 068 4141 – Lines are open 24 hours every day of the year (Weekends and Bank Holidays included)
Text: 88247
Email: [email protected]
For more information: HOPELINE247 | Papyrus
Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM)
Telephone support for people suffering from low mood, self-harm and suicidal thoughts.
Call: 0800 585858 – Every day from 5pm – midnight.
For more information: Homepage | Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM)
Student Support
Importance of having Support as a Student
Having support as a student or an apprentice is very important. As a student, your mental, emotional, and physical health directly impacts your academic performance, social development, and overall happiness. Many students may face pressures of academic workloads, social interactions, and personal development, it becomes even more important to address student health and wellness.
It is important to know that there are various resources out there to help you in a difficult time.
Resources for Students
Health & Wellbeing – Anglia Ruskin University (ARU)
ARU provides pages full of useful resources to help you focus on your wellbeing and find the support you need as a student. Health and wellbeing is so important.
For more information: Health and wellbeing – ARU
Student Wellbeing and Inclusivity Service – University of Essex (UOE)
The Student Wellbeing and Inclusivity Service (SWIS) provides a professional and proactive guidance service for students within a healthy and inclusive environment, so that they can support all students to fulfil their potential.
For more information: Student Wellbeing and Inclusivity Service | University of Essex
Disability and Wellbeing – University of Suffolk (UOS)
The University of Suffolk values diversity in THE community and recognises individual academic identities, which includes specific learning needs.
UOS recognises the importance of anticipatory and individualised support mechanisms in enabling all students to achieve their potential and as such will continue to improve and expand provision for students with a disability.
For more information: Disability & Wellbeing | University of Suffolk
Student Support – University of East Anglia (UEA)
The Wellbeing team in Student Services is made up of experienced, professional advisers and trainers who can help with your wellbeing in a number of ways.
For more information: Wellbeing – Student Support
Student Minds
Student Minds is the UK’s student mental health charity. Their vision is ‘no student should be held back by their mental health’.
They empower students to build their own mental health toolkit to support themselves and their peers through university life and beyond. We challenge the higher education sector, health sector, and government to make student mental health a priority.
For more information: Student Minds – Student Minds
Manager Support
Health and Wellbeing for Managers
The role of managers in primary care is to provide safeguarding, bolstering, and advocating for the health and wellbeing of their staff members. While the role of a manager is to provide support for members of their staff team, it is just as important for them to look after their own health and wellbeing.
It is significant that primary care managers take the time to look after themselves. NHS staff wellbeing is a priority to overcome obstacles while working in primary care. Support and wellbeing pages are available to access for managers who need it. With this extra support, it will enable primary care managers to feel their concerns are being recognised and understood.
Resources for Managers
NHS England have provided a guide for managers abut looking after you team’s health and wellbeing. This guide will enable primary care managers to support their team’s wellbeing but also their own health and wellbeing.
A key point in this guide is making sure you are a healthy lead so your team can have a great experience, and ultimately better care for patients.
For more information: NHS England » Looking after your team’s health and wellbeing guide
What is a Wellbeing Conversation? – NHS England
NHS England provides information on what a wellbeing conversation is to ensure NHS staff are knowledgeable about health and wellbeing.
It is important managers ensure they are aware and their team are aware of what health and wellbeing is.
Health and wellbeing is significant in primary care so managers should provide their team with the correct information they need to support themselves and others.
For more information: NHS England » Wellbeing conversations
Supporting Wellbeing Needs – NHS Employers
NHS Employers supports NHS health and wellbeing leads to prioritise and fulfil the wellbeing needs of staff.
This guide can help primary care managers look after their teams health and wellbeing and help them understand what they need.
For more information: Supporting the wellbeing needs of NHS staff | NHS Employers
Sleep, fatigue and the workplace – NHS Employers
NHS Employers provides a detailed web page that highlights the importance of sleep, and how sleep and fatigue can impact the health of NHS staff.
They provide practical solutions for improving the quality of sleep and rest.
For more information: Sleep, fatigue and the workplace | NHS Employers
Back to basics for a healthy working environment – NHS Employers
NHS Employers provides a detailed info-graph on ‘Back to basics’ which demonstrates updated statistics and facts about how hydration, nutrition, sleep, breaks and facilities impact work life wellbeing.
As a manager it is important to share this with your team so everyone can be educated on how to look after themselves better so that work life is positive.
For more information: Back to basics for a healthy working environment | NHS Employers
Unexpected Death in Practice
Dealing with Unexpected Death
The sudden passing of a friend or colleague can be a difficult and traumatic experience, which may be made harder to cope with given the pressures of continuing to run a busy general practice.
A range of support is available. If a key practice member; such as a partner or practice manager has died suddenly, and the impact on the practice is considered to be critical immediate support is funded by NHS England and can be accessed via the RCGP who have selected a small team of advisers. They can provide practical operational support and be a voice for the practice as they navigate a difficult and destabilising time.
This support is provided at no cost to the practice. Please use this contact form to get in touch. Alternatively, you can ring the RCGP Practice Support team on 020 3188 7637. (Please note that this number is not monitored during evenings or weekends).
Another resource, for a step by step approach of actions to take if a colleague has died by suicide is: Responding to the death by suicide of a colleague in primary care: A postvention framework – Louise Tebboth Foundation + Society Occupational Medicine (PDF file, 540 KB)
Resources for Unexpected Death
NHS Suicide Postvention Guidance – UOS
This guidance document includes information on immediate response actions, communications and emotional support for colleagues who have lost family, friends or loved ones to suicide or unexpected death in practice.
New suicide postvention guidance has been developed and can be found here: NHS Suicide Postvention Guidance – UOS
Suicide Prevention and Postvention – NHS Employers
NHS Employers web page offers further information on the impact of suicide and how employers can best support staff through preventative measures.
For more information: Suicide Prevention and Postvention
Fallen Friend – The Doctor
The Doctor provides information about losing a colleague to suicide in this issue. It provides additional information about supporting colleagues in Primary Care when they need help.
For more information: The Doctor, November 2020, issue 26
What to do when an employee dies – GOV.UK
GOV.UK highlights the importance of what to do under unexpected death circumstances. They provide a detailed page about what to do when an employee dies and what to do with outstanding payments etc.
For more information: What to do when an employee dies: Paying an employee who has died – GOV.UK
National Suicide Prevention Toolkit – NHS England
This document provides guidance for everyone in Primary Care to help prevent suicide and support the mental health and wellbeing of all employees. It provides recommendations to support organisations’ suicide prevention strategies.
For more information: Working-together-to-prevent-suicide-in-the-NHS-workforce–a-national-suicide-prevention-toolkit-for-England.pdf