Key Thoughts
• There is no doubt that in the last two years the pandemic had a devastating impact on staff wellbeing and mental health, across health and care. – Nearly two thirds of respondents to a Care England / Talent for Care survey rated staff wellbeing and mental health as worse or much worse than before the pandemic
• However the pandemic has also created new opportunities to better look after our workforce:
– in particular, investing directly in front-line teams, with support and wellbeing programs that make them feel valued and heard, build their resilience and strengthen a sense of belonging in their organisations
– Health and care leaders are becoming more forward looking and aware of the need to better support their workforce
– 76% of respondents to our survey, wish to invest in wellbeing training and personal development for their staff
– more than half (52%) intend to move from reactive to proactive wellbeing and mental health support
• Workforce wellbeing has, of course, a direct correlation with retention and recruitment:
– There is consensus that better looking after our teams is essential to retain and attract talent to the health and care sector
– Our approach to support and wellbeing needs to become more sophisticated, with leaders who are both wellbeing champions for their workforce and advocates for building something better
No Going Back
• There can be NO GOING BACK – the pandemic has changed staff support and wellbeing for good:
– Expectations of current and future health and care staff have changed, they expect their organisations to look after them in more advanced and innovative ways 
– We need person-centred plans that allow for, and encourage, diversity
– Our workforce will expect strong, open and transparent leadership that listens to and engages with staff. Listening, communication and relationships are key
– The best training, help and support available to NHS colleagues will have to be made available across the system, to the Social Care workforce
• Professionalisation of the social care workforce and new career paths could make a big difference:
– We need integrated workforce plans for health and social care
– We need to build career paths that will allow people to grow and potentially move across the health and care system
– Professionalisation of social care roles, including registration, standardised skill set and formal recognition of social care jobs as highly skilled, could have a major impact in retaining and attracting talent, putting social care more on a par with the NHS
What Next?
- Keep the conversation about transforming workforce support and wellbeing alive
- Use relevant social media and health and care forums to share experiences, reflection, and idea
- Share what works as well as what doesn’t
- Think differently. We need innovation to better look after our health and care teams
- Measure outcomes. Data and anecdotal evidence will help to prove the benefits of radically improving workforce support and wellbeing
- At the same time, look beyond the data, listen to the people you seek to support. Respect, and respond to, their stories