Back in April, Brighterway were successful in receiving a £35,000 grant from NHS Charities Together. The money has been allocated to go towards projects that support the health and well-being of staff at Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust in the ongoing pandemic.
Southampton Older People’s Mental Health (OPMH) team were one of the teams to benefit from the grant. The team of doctors, nurses and administrators are currently working on a two week rota between home and the office to help adhere to social distancing.
Throughout the pandemic, feelings of anxiety and isolation from working from home have been highlighted within the team. The senior management team wanted to find a way to combat those feelings and decided on ‘staff morale and well-being check in’ sessions.
The lunch-time sessions were designed to give staff time to catch up with colleagues, relax and take some time out for themselves.
Thanks to the grant from NHS Charities together, Brighterway have been able to allocate money to provide food and drink at the sessions, ranging from chocolate to tea.
Sammie Duer, team leader for Southampton OPMH commented ‘The staff have been so supportive of one another during such a difficult time and always put their patients first. It’s a nice way to show staff they are valued, appreciated and all their hard work has been acknowledged.
It is important to preserve staffs wellbeing and mental health, so doing sessions like this will really help and give them something to enjoy’
Brighterway were recently successful in receiving a further £50,000 from NHS Charities together to help staff and patients during the second lockdown. If you would like to contribute to our COVID-19 appeal, please visit our Justgiving page.
