CiC supporting healthcare professionals

Healthcare can be a high-stress environment to work in, so strong support structures and a culture of openness are essential. In the June 2016 edition of Nursing Management, CiC’ s client, Birmingham Children’ s Hospital’ s Sara Brown, deputy chief officer for workforce development, talks about how their work with CiC has provided the necessary help and assistance for their employees.

BCH’ s Sara Brown says: “Working with an external psychological wellbeing specialist from employee assistance programme, CiC, meant we knew we had a full service in place. Any employee can contact the telephone service for a confidential discussion with a trained counsellor. The issue is worked through in conversations, or can be triaged, with the employee being referred for off-site,
face-to-face counselling. No one has to wait more than one week for an appointment and usually no more than two days.”

She adds: “We encourage a culture of openness here – it is all part of our sense of being a community. If there is a problem, we tackle it constructively. Most importantly, since the changes, the number of staff reporting work-related stress has fallen.”

Kate Nowlan, CiC’ s chief executive, comments: “The support structure we have put in place at the organisation has added a level of psychological security for employees and encouraged openness among the workforce. This has had a significant positive impact for BCH, contributing to a reduction in cases of reported employee stress, which can only be a good thing for their employees and the patients and families they care for.”