16 November 2020

Staff from the Trust’s Addictions Service in Hounslow won one of the poster prizes at CNWL’s online Safety Conversation Day last Thursday (12 November) for their project to improve staff morale and wellbeing during the pandemic.

The Trust received 170 poster entries from staff on a range of safety topics including the safe environment, safety tools and safe use of medicines.

There were 22 entries in the category of supporting and involving staff.  

The project in Hounslow, led by Ruben Seetharamdoo, Darja Golob, Dr Andre Geel and Ronald Bevan, used a group coaching programme over six weeks to improve staff morale.

The six sessions of group coaching were delivered using a hybrid modality (a combination of face to face and videoconferencing). Staff got involved in the design of the project and used WEMWBS; a psychometrically robust scale of 14 positively worded items to measure wellbeing on a weekly basis during the six weeks.

The overall wellbeing of staff went from 62% to 75% and the psychological health of staff improved by over 20% (from 52% to 75%)

View the winning project on coaching 

The runners up in the category were

  • Secure Stairs at HMYOI Cookham Wood: creating psychological safety during lockdown - Secure Stairs is an NHS-E, HMPPS and DfE-funded project to develop therapeutic, trauma-responsive culture, thinking and practice in youth custody settings across England.
  • Balint Group –To provide a safe space for clinicians to be able to “debrief” and support each other through honest and open discussions in order to maintain and improve their mental health. After 6 months 70% of staff reported that they have learnt new strategies for dealing with complex / difficult situations. After 6 months 100% reported regular Balint groups were beneficial and wanted them to continue