Mental health in the workplace at FitzRoy
For World Mental Health Day this year, the theme is mental health in the workplace.
Gill Pleasance, FitzRoy’s HR Director, said: “Creating a workplace culture where colleagues feel safe and supported to talk about their mental health is crucial. When people can speak openly about their mental health and take proactive steps to manage it, they are less likely to experience burnout. Encouraging mental wellness and fostering a culture of support helps us thrive and leads to better teamwork.”
We caught up with some of our colleagues to talk about mental health at work and their experiences.
FitzRoy’s Mental Health Lead Kim Knights said: “Talking about mental wellbeing at work is much more common now, but many people do still find it difficult to discuss their mental health and how they’re feeling. This means there’s more work to be done, but we’ve talked a lot this year about ‘It’s OK to not be OK,’ and emphasised that we should talk about our mental health in normal conversation just as we do our physical health.
“FitzRoy is leading the way and putting support tools in place for all our staff, such as individual wellness plans, which we’ve introduced at some services and plan to roll out more widely in time. Sometimes all we need is a cup of tea and a chat, and sometimes we need more specialist support. Everyone is different in the support that works for them.
“In addition to support from managers and peers, FitzRoy has a network of Wellbeing Champions and Mental Health First Aiders who are always available to support staff when needed. We also have a free 24/7 counselling line for all employees.”
As we celebrate World Mental Health Day, I encourage everyone to take five minutes to do a mental check in and to prioritise self-care – are you getting enough sleep, eating healthily, and staying hydrated? All of these things can affect your mental wellbeing. Get out for a walk or do something for yourself that you haven’t done for a while – little things can make a big difference.
Regional manager Kimberley Cockram added: “I’ve noticed that staff in our mental health specialist services generally feel empowered to be open about their own mental health. We’re all on a sliding scale from mental wellness to mental illness throughout our lives, and it’s so important that people can talk about where they’re at right now. This openness about their own mental health enables staff to connect with the people we support too, with a genuine understanding of how it might feel for that person on that day.
“Being open about their mental health also means that we’re better able to support staff when they need it. Having a great team ethos is really important too – knowing that you can talk to your manager and your peers when you need a bit of support makes such a difference. We do a lot of reflective practice as a team, which both enables us to learn from experiences – and provide even better support in future – and helps us to work through some tricky situations with help from our colleagues.”
Service manager Chloe Asher said: “I’m so proud of my teams in our specialist mental health services, who not only display incredible resilience in dealing with some extraordinarily difficult situations, but also never fail to look out for each other, and the management team too. It takes a special kind of person to do what they do and keep showing up for both the people we support and each other. The specialist training for this work is brilliant, but you can’t train that level of care and dedication.”
Places to find mental health support
You can find guidance on how to do a “My Whole Self MOT” as well as other useful resources from Mental Health First Aid England here.
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