Reacting to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care’s announcement of an overhaul of the mental health and wellbeing support available to NHS staff in England, Professor Mike Griffin OBE, President of The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh said:
“We know that the NHS is facing unprecedented demand and that low morale across the medical and healthcare professions can have an adverse impact on patient outcomes.
“Therefore we are delighted that the government is setting out plans to provide better mental health and wellbeing support. The ideas mooted, such as dedicated mental health and peer to peer support, fast tracked mental health referrals and a workplace wellbeing guardian in every NHS organisation will have a positive impact on staff morale
“As per the recommendations we have made in our Improving the Working Environment for Safe Surgical Care report, we are also glad that the importance of mess and rest facilities have been acknowledged. We believe that it is important for doctors to have a protective environment in which they can unburden themselves and socialise with colleagues, and a hospital mess reduces staff isolation and enhances a sense of community within the working environment.
“However more can be done to ensure staff feel supported, so we will continue to press for further changes such as the re-establishment of surgical teams, a better design of rotas, guaranteed time for training and creating a working environment free of bullying and undermining.”