First Staff Wellbeing Room is opened
Our Chief Executive and some of our Health and Wellbeing Champions have come together to open our first staff wellbeing room.
The room, the first of its kind at Derriford Hospital, is a sanctuary for staff, offering them a quiet space at the heart of a busy hospital, to relax in.
As the Chief Executive opened the door to the very different looking room in February, there was a chorus of ‘ahs’ and ‘wows’. The room has been specially designed by our estates team with pastel colours on the wall, soft lighting, comfortable chairs and relaxing furniture, games, free refreshments, yoga mats and quiet corners to tuck away in and just be.
Chief Executive Ann James said: “This is a delight, an absolute transformation, a sanctuary in the busy Derriford Hospital, a place to decompress, Special CEO shout out to Sylvia and Sarah and the wider team who have been incredible in making this happen.
“This will hopefully be the first of many UHP staff spaces and these, both indoor and out, are just one part of our wider wellbeing programme. With the support and commitment of colleagues we also have:
- A Wellbeing for All team in place with a psychologist working as part of this
- Our first Health and Wellbeing Champions have been trained and are up and running in different areas of the trust, and our second cohort is just about to start training. There is good evidence that peer to peer support makes a positive impact on staff wellbeing and we want to train and support colleagues to offer this peer support
- We have a good number of staff who have now undergone Mental Health First Aid training
- We have a range of existing support available - from our wonderful pastoral care team to our in-house coaches and Occupational Health colleagues. We run monthly Schwartz Rounds and our Say Thank You and Learn from Excellence scheme is going from strength to strength and we know this makes a difference to how staff feel when they receive a Thank You card
- We are also working with Plymouth College of Art on a ceramic wall that we will be inviting all staff to contribute to and we have plans for a 'writer in residence' to come in at the same time to help colleagues tell their stories
- We recognise staff shortages combined with heavy demand impact on wellbeing and we are investing millions in staffing, particularly in nursing and pharmacy staff
- We are creating a Garden of Life, building on our commitment to create indoor and outdoor space for people just 'to be'.”
Health and Wellbeing Champion Erika Garrett said: “The Wellbeing room is such an awesome addition to the hospital. It's wonderful that staff now have a place to relax away from the pressures of work. I highly recommend a visit.'”
Health and Wellbeing Champion Graeme Hemsley added: “What a transformation and excellent use of space! This really is a special place to be able to recharge and relax whilst still being in the Hospital. I’ll definitely be using it and recommending it to colleagues to use it where possible.”
