South Western Ambulance Charity awarded £200,000 to support enhancements to wellbeing support to ambulance staff
South Western Ambulance Charity has been awarded £200,000 from NHS Charities Together and NHS England to enable the SWASFT's Staying Well Hub to enhance wellbeing support for colleagues across the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT).
The funding follows a successful collaborative grant application between Staying Well Hub and South Western Ambulance Charity and forms part of a national £11 million programme, including a £5 million contribution from NHS England. The programme is supporting 29 ambitious projects across England.
At a time when the NHS is experiencing one of its busiest winter periods, the funding will enable SWASFT to provide crucial wellbeing support for its workforce, both now and into the future.
NHS staff are the driving force behind our healthcare system, but they are currently working in some of the toughest conditions in history, with growing pressure from increased demand for health services. Research from NHS Charities Together shows that almost half (47%) of NHS staff surveyed say their job is negatively affecting their mental health, while 41% report an impact on their physical health. This makes targeted wellbeing support more vital than ever.
Through this funding, SWASFT's Staying Well Hub will design and deliver a range of proactive, evidence-based wellbeing initiatives, ensuring support is meaningful, impactful and sector-leading. The projects include:
Psycho-social education programme
Development of a new programme rooted in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), delivered by SWASFT Mental Health Practitioners. The programme will support deeper understanding of coping strategies, social influences and wellbeing-related change, and will be the first of its kind within the ambulance sector.
Expansion of Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT)
Expansion of the Trust's EFT provision, led by Trauma Therapist Paul Edwards, an EFT Master whose work is taught on the global curriculum. Paul will design a bespoke EFT practitioner training programme, creating a cohort of in-house EFT practitioners and offering valuable professional development opportunities for colleagues.
Enhanced trauma support through T-RAS
Launch of Trauma Response and Support (T-RAS), a strengthened psychological trauma support approach. Funding will enable expert input from external providers to ensure the model is evidence-based and responsive to the needs of staff across the Trust.
These projects are underpinned with a final element of funding connected to developing a robust digital and data driven quality improvement approach to ensure that the projects are meaningful, impactful and improvements can be made, where necessary, ensuring they evolve with the voice of our colleague's and their needs.
Lauren Dunn, Head of Wellbeing and Occupational Health at SWASFT, said: "To receive this grant and be supported to deliver such a genuinely transformative programme of work is an immense privilege. It allows us, as the first ambulance service to pilot and evaluate these innovative approaches in such depth, to shape not only the future of wellbeing within our organisation, but to contribute to sector-wide change.
This programme has been built directly from the voices of our colleagues. Through extensive engagement and honest feedback, we heard clearly where support could be strengthened and where new approaches were needed. This funding enables us to respond with meaningful, evidence-based initiatives, supported by expert insight, to ensure no gap in wellbeing is left unaddressed.
We are deeply grateful for this opportunity and excited for what the next 18 months will bring. Our hope is that these projects will make a lasting, positive impact on the wellbeing of every colleague."
Ellie Orton, CEO, NHS Charities Together, said; "Many NHS staff feel that theirs is the best job in the world, but these roles come with a tremendous responsibility for the lives they care for, and at a time of incredible pressure on health services, this takes a toll on their mental and physical wellbeing.
In the face of so many wider healthcare challenges it can be easy to forget about healthcare staff, but it goes without saying that we need a healthy workforce if we want a thriving NHS that can give patients the care they need.
This funding means NHS charities like South Western Ambulance Charity can help ensure NHS staff priorities their own health and wellness with the same care they give to patients, and we are delighted we can support this important work. We've spent a lot of time talking to frontline staff and analyzing evidence from previous projects to arrive at solutions that will give healthcare staff the right tools to look after their own wellbeing."
For more information on the work of the South Western Ambulance Charity, visit: https://www.swambulancecharity.org/