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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 July 2023
Trainees in Barnet, Enfield and Haringey (BEH) Mental Health Trust reported feeling isolated and burnt out after COVID-19. Offers of "online mindfulness" or "resilience training", as a substitute for in-person gatherings, felt very inadequate. Well-being initiatives are known to improve staff morale, mental health, patient care, recruitment and retention of trainees. We created and delivered a pilot well-being programme to improve the well-being of trainee psychiatrists working within BEH between September 2022 and January 2023.
We developed a WellBEHing brand for our trust and a committee of trainees dedicated to improving the well-being of themselves and their colleagues.
We ran a focus group for all trainees to submit ideas for sessions and activities they would enjoy.
We developed a programme of monthly WellBEHing events during protected well-being time, that was funded by medical education and the local division.
We surveyed trainees pre and post WellBEHing autumn/winter programme to record the impact on their sense of well-being. We also collected qualitative data on their experiences of being part of a WellBEHing community.
Prior to the WellBEHing autumn/winter programme we surveyed 40 trainees in BEH and only 12.5% of them rated their well-being as good or great. 35% of trainees felt unvalued or uncared about at work.
At the end of the autumn/winter WellBEHing programme 73% of trainees felt valued at work, with 60% of trainees feeling "happy and cared for".
Some of the qualitative feedback showed the impact well-being events can have on trainees “Seeing everyone in person, and being able to do so during the working day made me feel that BEH values me enough as an employee to prioritise my well-being. The quiz was also excellent and had clearly had a lot of effort put into it.”
Meaningful well-being initiatives take time, effort and funding. They require the support of management and consultants. Our results demonstrate that when well-being is designed and led by trainees, they feel valued and cared for as employees. We are beginning the second phase of project development where we will focus on making the programme sustainable and embedded in trainee life at BEH long-term.
Abstracts were reviewed by the RCPsych Academic Faculty rather than by the standard BJPsych Open peer review process and should not be quoted as peer-reviewed by BJPsych Open in any subsequent publication.
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