Providing Support to Team BCHC Through COVID-19
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, BCHC Charity has endeavoured to do whatever we can to support those under our care, including the amazing Team BCHC staff who went above and beyond to protect and treat patients of all ages in our hospitals and out in the community. Thanks to a successful appeal and funding from various trusts and foundations, including NHS Charities Together, BCHC Charity were able to implement initiatives and provide items to support colleague health and wellbeing throughout the pandemic.
At the start of the pandemic, BCHC Charity worked with the Organisational Development Team to set up and stock pantries full of essentials for staff members who might be unable to spend time in queues to enter supermarkets or be working longer or more unsociable shifts. The pantries were stocked with a range of foods, drinks, toiletries, and cleaning products to provide staff with the items they needed to take care of themselves so that they could continue their hard work in taking care of the people of Birmingham.
As part of our commitment to providing wellbeing support to BCHC staff, BCHC Charity funded a years’ license to provide Schwartz Rounds™ sessions to help colleagues decompress and share their experiences of working in healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic. Putting compassion at the heart of healthcare has never been so important, and being able to understand and reflect on the emotional aspects of their work is key for BCHC colleagues to improve their emotional wellbeing and help maintain a compassionate approach. Schwartz Rounds™ are an evidence-based approach to having facilitated conversations with colleagues about the emotional impact of working in healthcare. Listening to colleagues describe the challenges of their work can help others to understand and accept the emotions that are part and parcel of working in healthcare but are often kept under the surface. The virtual sessions have received good feedback, such as “supportive, helpful, emotional and caring” and being “a useful moment to pause and reflect.” Dr Sunny Kalsy-Lillico says, “The panellists have shared stories about their experience of working through the pandemic, talking and listening about the emotional impact of working over a virtual platform and the other challenges and triumphs during this unprecedented time. The sessions are a time where colleagues are able to support each other to speak about how working in healthcare feels.” This reflective practice allows colleagues to appreciate the challenges and rewards that are central to providing care.
Over the last 4 years, BCHC Charity have recognised the importance of utilising outdoor areas as a means for staff to decompress, get fresh air, and take some time for themselves. Spending time in green spaces and getting some sunlight can improve mood, reduce anxiety, and encourage relaxation, which is more important than ever for healthcare staff. In late 2020, we launched our Safe Spaces scheme to ensure that BCHC colleagues have access to practical, comfortable, and peaceful spaces during their breaks and before or after shifts. Gardens and other outdoor recreational areas across the Trust have been spruced up with flowers, plants, and furniture to provide more inviting areas for breaks. Hannah, a Speech & Language Therapist at Moseley Hall Hospital, says; “The Moor Green garden has been a welcome sanctuary. Being away from the main hospital and surrounded by plants in a space we can be socially distanced has provided myself and the team with some well needed daily respite.”
The Safe Spaces scheme also extends to indoors, with staffrooms being kitted out with murals, artwork, and new furniture to help encourage colleagues to take breaks and recharge during their working day. The Team Lead at the Referral Management Centre contacted the Charity Team to support the set-up of a Wellbeing Hub for the staff working there. “COVID-19 has affected colleagues and services in many ways, and as a result we are looking at ways in which we can create an engaging work space environment which prioritises colleague wellbeing within RMC. Due to service capacity, the centre can sometimes be a pressurised environment. We wanted to set up a Wellbeing Hub to encourage good mental health practice.” The charity was happy to support this initiative, providing magazines and self-help books for the Wellness Library, as well as stress balls and colouring supplies to help promote mindful, relaxing activities during breaks. Sarah Binks, Charity Manager, even donated some yoga mats for use at the hub!
In February 2021, we provided over 4,000 Winter Wellbeing Kits to staff across the Trust, to boost morale, alleviate stress and enhance wellbeing throughout the harsher winter months. The kits included lunch bags to encourage staff to take breaks and ensure they are well nourished, hand cream to help ease the dry skin caused by the cold winter weather and frequent hand washing, scented candles to help staff relax after a shift, eye masks to aid with sleep, and more! Zara Mahmood of the Inclusion Team in the Central Booking Service was very happy to receive kits for her team. “They have given us a real boost in these dark times”, she said. “We all have different days in the office and it’s so uplifting to walk in and see these little things that can help, especially the activity book, as I love doing puzzles.”
Local interior designer Nikki Shaw gave her time and resources freely to makeover the staffroom at the West Midlands Rehabilitation Centre. Nikki had previously recently worked with the charity to transform the paediatric fitting room at the centre, and she wanted to do the staffroom makeover as an opportunity for her to say thank you to all the people she met whilst working on the fitting room project. “Everyone made me feel so warmly welcomed and it was fascinating to learn about the roles of the staff who do such a valuable job caring for patients and their families every day,” she said. “Not only that, but the fact that so many staff went to help in other departments and hospitals during the height of the COVID pandemic. I have the utmost respect for everyone working for and with the NHS to protect and save the lives of so many people in the UK.” Jos Van Mulken, Service Lead for Specialist Orthotics, Prosthetics and Amputee Rehabilitation said; “It has been brilliant working with Nikki in transforming the paediatric fitting room at the centre. It was such a lovely surprise when Nikki offered to redecorate the staffroom as a token of appreciation to all NHS staff. The room is now a relaxing space to retreat to following busy clinics. Colleagues are using this room a lot more which is a pleasure to see. Thank you so much Nikki!”
BCHC colleagues working in end of life or palliative care out in the community were provided with Dandelion Reflection Boxes, thanks to a wonderful pilot initiative from Ruth Denton, Head of Palliative Care. The idea came to Ruth after the refurbishment of the bereavement suite, the newly named Dandelion Room, at Moseley Hall Hospital. Whilst the Trust has reflection rooms in various bases in the city, not all staff are able to visit these buildings when out and about at appointments in health clinics or patients’ homes. As such, the Dandelion Reflection Boxes offered a portable solution for those teams where accessing reflection rooms is not possible, allowing colleagues to access items to help comfort or relax them. The boxes were designed to support staff who experienced a higher loss of patients due to COVID-19, to offer comfort and a means to debrief with other colleagues. They contained items to help Team BCHC members decompress after particularly difficult or emotional consultations, such as tea, coffee and biscuits, stress balls, notepads and pens to note down any reflections and thoughts, and tissues.
Although the emergency appeal is now closed, BCHC Charity are committed to supporting Team BCHC staff, and the patients and service users they see.