For some time, it has been a plan for the Northern Care Alliance (NCA) to reimagine part of the library space to create a wellbeing hub for staff and students to come and enjoy our peaceful, friendly environment, not just for work and study but also to relax and decompress.

Initially a research project was planned. The literature was searched, and the evidence was reviewed and, yes, there was a need to support healthcare staff wellbeing and mental health.

A King’s Fund publication in 2021 stated:

“Health and care staff need to feel that their well being and psychological health are valued by their employing organisations………. This cannot be achieved by words alone; but must be achieved by actions”1

In NHS: People Plan 2020/2021 – action for all of us, “Looking after our people– with quality health and well being support for everyone.” 2

And from our own trust, NCA SCARF Project objectives:  

S.C.A.R.F is a wrap-around programme of support to look after your physical, emotional and mental well being

“We Care about you and your wellbeing and we will encourage an environment in which our people feel looked after”3

However, as with many Trust services, funding was tight, so we took the decision to bid for funding and from NHS England, which was successful. I was lucky enough to lead on the creation of the library’s well being space. With help from the team, we enjoyed browsing furniture catalogues, looking at colour swatches and weighing up the merits of coffee machines and water coolers. We decided on furniture comprising of a sofa, two high-back swivel chairs with matching footstools and a round table and four chairs, for well being activities and a storage unit. All the furniture was in a beautiful red and green colour scheme that really made the space pop! All this prepared the space for taking a break any time of day.

 

To launch the new well being hub formally it was decided that an open house event would take place and I took on the challenge of planning a day of events. I contacted several NCA colleagues and volunteers to utilise their skills and called upon the generosity of the whole Library and Knowledge team to provide a selection of free activities and giveaways. These included an array of well being activities, including origami crane making with Osman, the staff well being chaplain who not only was a superb teacher but also delighted attendees with the story behind the symbol of the crane. Complementary therapy sessions were offered, including hand, arm and head massages and mini reiki session which proved very popular. There was time to talk with the SCARF team, the NCA staff experience team, who provided lots of information on support and advice available within the Trust. And the piece-de-resistance, a visit from Atlas, the Pets as Therapy dog and his handler Tina. In addition to these sessions there was also arts and crafts, a free tombola with prizes of chocolate and Quick Read books, and the chance to win a well being hamper. Who could ask for more?!

 

On Wednesday 17 July, the day of the event dawned and with much trepidation I swung from worrying that no-one would turn up to what if too many came. My worries were unfounded and throughout the day the event had over 100 visitors and the feedback was inspiring. But feedback aside, the statistics were pretty awesome too! On the back of the library manager, Sue Steele, suggesting that entry to the raffle should be on library card number this meant that we were able to encourage new membership sign-ups. Of the 49 people who entered the draw 15 were from staff groups which are under-represented in our membership and 28 were brand new joiners.

All-in-all, the day was and the space is a success and hosting another open house event is something we are definitely planning to do in the future.

The well being space in the Fairfield library is open to all NCA colleagues. If you’d like to learn more about how you can establish your own well being space, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

References