British hospitals look after staff with massages and yoga classes | Society

Rising levels of stress has resulted in a crisis of the workforce and an alarming number of doctors and nurses are leaving their jobs at the NHS.

But hospitals are trying to reverse the trend by offering staff members yoga sessions, free mbadages, bacon rolls and their birthday as an extra day off to try to reduce the pressure of patient care.

More and more trusts are imposing mindfulness courses, physiotherapy for pain relief, and tips on good sleep habits to improve the well-being of their staff.

Kingston Hospital in London hired a physiotherapist specifically to treat staff with neck, back and shoulder pain caused by the rigors of patient handling. A "mental / physical practitioner" also teaches them yoga to improve their mental, physical and spiritual well-being.

Each week, many staff members attend yoga sessions, pilates clbades or mind / body relaxation groups. In addition, a "staff support chaplain", who is a qualified therapist, provides free pastoral care to people suffering from stress, anxiety or depression, caused by their work, their personal life or their family life.

Kelvin Cheatle, director of trust staff, said he had sought help from the trio after his staff survey in 2015 showed they "felt constantly stressed and under pressure and that the organization was not doing enough to help them. We have put in place a health and wellness strategy to help staff in all areas of their well-being: physical, mental, financial and family health. "

Cheatle added that the staff survey last year indicated that "these initiatives have had a significant impact on the health and well-being of staff. The majority of them say they feel that their trust is taking positive steps in this area and would recommend the organization as a good place to work. "

The trust of Plymouth University Hospitals in Devon uses different tactics. When staff at his Derriford Hospital can not take his lunch breaks because he is under intense pressure, he receives free refreshments to help him breathe a respite, including slices of bacon.

More than 1,000 staff members have joined the Derriford Health and Wellness Center, a fitness and recreation center located on Derriford, the city's only acute care hospital. And, with an insufficient number of young doctors, he now rewards those who come for rotations of four to six months from what he admits to be "an often intense and stimulating work environment" with "welcome bags" including pens, water bottles, tea bags, sweets, hot chocolate sachets, tips on how to get enough sleep when working at night and a card thanking them for joining.

The Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Trust helps staff to better reconcile work and private life through flexible work arrangements, including fixed-term jobs, annualized hours and part-time work. For example, about 150 people are on school leave. It also offers staff free access to Headspace Mindfulness app, water bottles for those visiting their patients at home, checkups for 40+, advice via a counseling line 24 hours a day and physiotherapy. These systems are bearing fruit since trust now maintains 91% of its staff, one of the best NHS rates in England.

Medium confidence now allows staff to take their birthday as an extra day off. "The staff members had many ideas for recognizing good organizational performance, but that's the one they really did. We agreed to personally thank all the staff, "said the director general of trust, who asked that he not be identified.

"They take their birthday or as close to their birthday as possible, in addition to their annual leave. The costs are largely offset by the benefits. It's not automatic – it depends on our performance – but we've done it three times in the last four years. "

As part of the first project of this type, the management company of Telford Hospital in Shropshire is renovating six four-bedroom homes on its land, alongside Telford & Wrekin Council, in order to offer free housing to 24 young doctors as part of his persuasion efforts as they come and work there.

"As everyone knows, it's hard to work within the NHS at the moment. But we provide premium free hosting that gives us an edge when people decide on their careers, "said Ben Reid, chairman of the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust. The increased interest of students in the final year of medicine suggests that this initiative could help increase the supply of doctors in training.

"The NHS can be a great place to work, but it's clear that many staff members face intolerable pressures in their efforts to provide the best care possible to patients," said Saffron Cordery, Deputy Director General. NHS providers, which represents the NHS trusts.

"Their work involves great responsibilities, requires a lot of talent, endurance, patience and compbadion, often in an environment where resources are in high demand. This can have both physical and mental consequences, leading to burnout, loss of sleep, or demoralization. "

She welcomes the trusts' efforts to improve the morale and well-being of their employees. But the chronic lack of staff, the widespread problem of rota gap and the growing number of people who are resigning mean that they have to focus on feeding those who provide care.

The latest NHS staff survey, released last month, found that 40% of respondents said they did not feel well because of the work-related stress of the previous year – the highest figure since five years. The health and well-being of staff has declined overall and 30% often think of quitting smoking, he said. And the official figures show that the health service in England has more than 100,000 vacancies.