Shining a light on workplace mental health

This was particularly timely for us, with our campaigning work on NHS workforce mental health support continuing after a busy 18 months or so.

Imminent government cuts to 40 vital Staff Mental Health and Wellbeing Hubs first came to our attention in December 2022, and since then we've done all we can to make the case for these services, which provide a lifeline for a workforce in crisis.

This involved seeking the support of other influential organisations and high-profile individuals such as Stephen Fry and Alastair Campbell, and encouraging 1,000 people to write to their MPs to express their concerns.

Our work helped to keep 23 out of the 40 hubs open during 2023-24, partly as a result of £2.3 million funding secured from NHS England in July 2023, which provided a lifeline for some hubs which had been earmarked for closure.  

This work continues, but you can read more about the story so far in a blog by our President Dr Roman Raczka, published on World Mental Health Day.

It has also opened the door for further partnerships, with organisations using the research we did to underpin the campaign as evidence in their own campaigning work, and Roman having met with a number of integrated care boards to discuss our findings.

We also used the spotlight provided to issue a new joint statement with the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies and the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, reiterating the importance of support being available to health and social care staff.

It's not just in the NHS where staff wellbeing is an issue and needs to be a priority. It needs to be at the top of the agenda in all industries, including higher education.

Chartered occupational psychologist Dr Ashley Weinberg took a look at the situation in that sector with a piece on a grassroots initiative at the University of Salford, launched two years ago, which offers another important example of the important work that psychologists are doing to support wellbeing in their workplaces.

Alongside helping to create and lead initiatives on workplace mental health, psychologists are also continuing to carry out innovative research on how organisations can support staff with their wellbeing.

We published a round-up of some fascinating recent studies, published in our journals, which cover different aspects of workplace wellbeing, including on intergenerational harmony, allowing staff to switch off, and the benefits of autonomy.

This only scratches the surface of the fantastic work that psychologists are doing to promote and research workplace wellbeing – it's an issue that we'll continue to cover across our channels.