Staff from the sexual health service take part in a self defence class as part of their wellbeing initiatives
Staff from NHS Lanarkshire’s sexual health team have received a Big Shout Out for introducing initiatives that help support team wellbeing.
‘Wellbeing Wednesdays’ see the sexual health service coming together once a month to focus on their own wellbeing and build on the great relationships within the team.
The pan Lanarkshire service provides adult clinics at twelve sites and also nine young person’s clinics that run after school.
Dr Rashmi Ronghe, Consultant in sexual and reproductive healthcare and lead clinician for sexual health, said: “Like all teams, the sexual health team had a difficult time during covid. We had to adapt quickly and find novel ways of working. Just as we were recovering from that, our service was hit with the Mpox outbreak.
“Our team continues to work hard to provide the best possible patient centred care and go an extra mile to ensure patient wellbeing – we thought that it was important to look after the wellbeing of our staff members too.
“We have always had two hours of protected CPD time on a Wednesday morning and we decided to dedicate one session a month for staff wellbeing as ‘Wellbeing Wednesday’. This CPD could be about learning about other interests/hobbies and staff could use these for their own wellbeing which in turn can lead to better outcomes for patients.
“We had an introductory session where we put the idea to staff and asked for suggestions for topics. Staff were very supportive of the idea and several staff have come forward with excellent suggestions and also have lead on some of the sessions.
“It is really interesting to see what other colleagues do in their spare time and learn from them. Just prior to Christmas we had a “Nosecco” tasting event and this was well received with lots of chat and laughter! So far we have had sessions on running, aesthetics, body positivity and self-defence. We have also introduced a ‘wellbeing wall’ with photos of our sessions, inspirational quotes and we hope to add to this with ‘recipes of the week.’
“Our Wellbeing Wednesdays have allowed all groups of staff to come together to learn, chat and laugh and this has helped to further promote team building. We plan to evaluate the benefits of this shortly with a short questionnaire to staff.”
Karen Stewart, lead for the sexual health team, said: “Our service has grown over the years. We used to be very much family planning and GUM medicine.
“Our service has integrated and over the years it’s got bigger and bigger.
“Wednesday morning is when most of the core nurses and doctors are on site. During COVID we fought very hard because of the changes. Wednesday morning became quite protected. So we have CPD sessions for learning and sometimes we have fun things, which is where Wellbeing Wednesdays come in.”
Claire Reynolds, secretary for sexual health, said: “One of the consultants had come up with the idea of turning one of our CPD sessions each month into Wellbeing Wednesday.
“At the first one, we got lots of ideas from different staff members what they would like to do. Everybody brought something to the table.
“We kicked off with a ‘nosecco’ tasting. We had cheese and biscuits and nosecco. At the next one we did a session on running and it’s gone from there. The session on running inspired quite a few of us to start going doing park run on Saturday morning. So there’s a few of us in the office do that now.
“Today’s session was a self-defence session. Which was really enjoyable. We ended, with a wee bit Reiki.
“I think it’s been really good for us as a team as its allowed us to find out what other people’s interests are, because people were bringing their own interests to the table. We’ve got to know each other on a deeper level, which is nice.”
Karen added: “We had a session on meditation. It was as simple as your breathing and taking two minutes out on your busy day. So taking that two minutes away from your computer just to think, think about yourself.
“When you go back into your afternoon tasks you just feel that you bit more refreshed.
“I think the Big Shout Out helps the staff to realise that they’re appreciated and that we are a team. We all work together and everybody was involved in the wellbeing sessions. They weren’t specific to certain staff groups. “
The Big Shout Out praises NHS Lanarkshire teams for taking an innovative, creative, and patient-centered approach to working, and recognizes the unique contribution staff make to overcoming the challenges faced across the entire healthcare system.
