Health and wellbeing

This page provides access to a range of useful resources that support health and wellbeing amongst the primary care workforce.

Greater Manchester Wellbeing Passport
Greater Manchester Wellbeing Passport logo

The Greater Manchester Wellbeing Programme supports trainees to gain the skills to promote positive health and wellbeing in the workplace in primary care across Greater Manchester.

Each person on the programme undertakes a range of wellbeing training and gets a GM Wellbeing Passport to keep an ongoing record of the training they have completed.

Register to join the GM Primary Care website » and remember to tick the checkbox labelled Wellbeing Passport under the field labelled ‘Your GM Primary Care Passport/s’. If you already have a user account and want to enrol on the GM Wellbeing Programme please get in touch by email.

Greater Manchester Wellbeing Toolkit

The Greater Manchester Health and Wellbeing toolkit is now in its third year and continues to have an important role to play in supporting the wellbeing of our health and care workforce in Greater Manchester.

The toolkit was produced by NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care, in collaboration with colleagues from across the Greater Manchester system and has been created with input and resources from across Greater Manchester, as well as the North West region and national bodies.

Spotlight on Wellbeing videos

Linked to the Greater Manchester Wellbeing Toolkit, a series of Spotlight on Wellbeing videos is available to watch at your convenience.

Greater Manchester Bereavement Service

The Greater Manchester Bereavement Service was launched on 30th April 2020 and provides a single point of contact for people in Greater Manchester to get advice and support if they are bereaved, directing them to both local and national services.

People can either call the service on 0161 983 0902 or visit www.greater-manchester-bereavement-service.org.uk

Greater Manchester CPD certified menopause awareness course
Greater Manchester CPD certified menopause awareness course logo

The CPD certified menopause course is available to all health and care workers across Greater Manchester.

The course looks to improve how our colleagues and workplaces can better understand menopause, over six easy to access modules. These modules aimed to increase confidence and knowledge of the signs and symptoms of peri-menopause and menopause, and the ways to respond for a better workplace experience.

To access the course, please visit https://www.balance-menopause.com/balance-corporate-course-nhs-greater-manchester and input the password nhsmanconfidence when prompted.

Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter – Mental Health Toolkit for Employers

Every organisation has an opportunity to support and develop a mentally healthy workforce. The Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter Mental Health Toolkit provides a step-by-step guide and links to a range of free resources.

Greater Manchester Resilience Hub

The Greater Manchester Resilience Hub was set up in response to the Manchester Arena Attack in 2017 to co-ordinate care and support for thousands of children, young people and adults whose mental health and/or emotional wellbeing was affected.

Greater Manchester Resilience Hub is also providing support to all health and care workers (and their families), working in Greater Manchester, who have been affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Find out more about the Greater Manchester Resilience Hub at www.penninecare.nhs.uk/mcrhub and the coronavirus support available at www.penninecare.nhs.uk/mcrhub-covid19.

Health and Wellbeing Champions – an e-learning module

NHS England and NHS Improvement have worked with NHS colleagues to develop an optional e-learning module to support Health and Wellbeing Champions in understanding the remit of their role. This training can be accessed on the Health Education England e-Learning for Healthcare website. Champions can also access ongoing support through a dedicated space on the NHS Futures site.

GreaterSport Active Workplace Toolkit

The GreaterSport Active Workplace Toolkit provides tools, ideas and resources to help you create an active workplace.

New Step for African Communities (NESTAC)

NESTAC (New Step for African Communities) Charity works to empower the disadvantaged population within the Black and Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities, particularly refugees, asylum seekers and other immigrants from the new emerging communities in Greater Manchester.

NESTAC provides mental health support specifically aimed at people from BAME communities. Find out more at http://www.nestac.org.uk.

Podcasts

GM Health & Wellbeing Podcast

GM Health & Wellbeing Podcast logo

The GM Health & Wellbeing Podcast includes a mini-series focussed on wellbeing that is hosted by GM Wellbeing Toolkit creator Sheni Ravji-Smith @sheniravjismith.

Subscribe to the Health & Wellbeing Podcast series below.

omny.fm | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify

GP Excellence Podcast

GP Excellence Podcast logo

The GP Excellence Podcast supports the GP Excellence programme, responding to what is most important to Primary Care Networks.

Whether you’re a GP, a manager or part of the administration team, you all have a key role to play and this series will arm you with advice and knowledge to help you do your job better and improve the patient experience.

Follow the links below to subscribe to the podcast series.

Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | omny.fm

Primary Care Knowledge Boost

Primary Care Knowledge Boost podcast logo

In the Primary Care Knowledge Boost podcast doctors Sara MacDermott and Lisa Adams interview specialists from around Greater Manchester with the aim of improving the confidence and knowledge of local primary care staff.

Find out more on the Primary Care Knowledge Boost podcast website.

ShinyMind
ShinyMind App logo

The ShinyMind App has been co-designed with NHS staff, many of whom face the most challenging and stressful situations on a daily basis, and is being used by thousands of our key healthcare workers nationwide. We are now giving you this innovative wellbeing and resilience resource to provide you with round-the-clock daily support, at work and at home, to help you be the best and most positive you can be.

ShinyMind App QR code

To request access to the ShinyMind App and join our Greater Manchester Wellbeing Community, please complete the registration form available at https://forms.gle/tbBTkuEjVzjoyXUK6. Once you are registered, you will receive an email with log in details. You will then be able to download the App and make the most of over 100 interactive evidence-based activities, send and receive messages of encouragement and positivity in the App community and practice some tried-and-tested coping methods.

IOS Users – download the app via the App store

Android Users – download the app via the Google Play store

Supporting physical activity for health outcomes

Greater Manchester Moving is keen to develop physical activity champions across primary care, supporting them as advocates for patients and connecting to the workplace wellbeing agenda.

Resources are aimed at healthcare professionals to highlight the benefits physical activity can have on both physical and mental health, including depression, Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some cancers.

This also supports the Royal College of General Practice Active Practice Charter.

Touch 10 resources

As a line manager, do you feel confident talking to a member of staff about their mental health and wellbeing?

As a staff member, how valuable would it be to speak to your manager about how you’re feeling, especially if they were able to help in a practical way?

And, as an individual, how aware are you of what’s happening with your own mental health and wellbeing?

Created with guidance from line managers and staff in the Greater Manchester area, Touch 10 and the Personal Wellbeing Barometer aim to stimulate open and honest conversations and provide a way of tracking your own mental wellbeing, with the aim of nipping potential problems in the bud before they develop into something bigger and more problematic.

Listen to our Health and Wellbeing Podcast ‘Touch 10: My mental wellbeing’, where Janet Castrogiovani is joined by Lynn Marsland to discuss Touch 10 and the Personal Wellbeing Barometer.

Wellbeing resources for NHS staff

Employee Assistance Programme

The Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) provides confidential support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The free 24-hour telephone counselling and information services can be accessed at any time of the day and night. Call: 0800 783 2808.

Visit EAP online at http://healthassuredeap.co.uk and enter 72936 in the username box and 72936 in the password box. You can also download Health-E app at on the App Store and via Google Play.

Having safe and effective wellbeing conversations

NHS England and Improvement has co-designed a national training programme, with support from a number of NHS organisations, which aims to offer delegates an opportunity to learn more about what a wellbeing conversation is, when it may be appropriate to initiate one and provide them with additional knowledge and skills to have safe and compassionate conversations about various aspects of wellbeing. The programme, delivered by trained professionals from Passe Partout, also advises how to safely signpost staff to additional support when needed, and offer an opportunity to practice a conversation in a safe, supportive and non-judgmental space of the session.

Looking after you too – individual coaching support
Look after you email banner

Fontline primary care colleagues involved in the delivery of Primary Care services, both clinical and non-clinical, are facing unprecedented challenges through Covid-19. Looking after you too offers coaching support to help primary care staff to maintain their psychological wellbeing during this time, enabling them to maintain the delivery of frontline primary care.

Individual coaching support is available with a highly skilled and experienced coach.  This will be a space for you to offload the demands of whatever you are experiencing and be supported in developing practical strategies for dealing with this.  It might be that through a one-off conversation you have all the strategies you need to cope with your situation and stay well.  Or you might find a few sessions helpful.  It is all led by you.

Sessions are available Mondays to Fridays between 08:00am-10:00pm and on Saturdays and Sundays between 10:00am-6:00pm. The first session will last up to 45 minutes. The sessions will be delivered virtually, preferably via a video platform, but telephone appointments are also available. Subsequent sessions will be dependent on the conversation between you and your coach. Your coach might signpost you on to further support if they think this might be helpful. You may receive follow-up emails to support you in maintaining your wellness once your coaching sessions have finished.

Register and book a coaching session at https://people.nhs.uk/lookingafteryoutoo/register.

NHS staff support line

The NHS Staff support line is a confidential free staff support phone line 0300 131 7000, operated by the Samaritans accessible 7:00am-11:00pm seven days a week.

Alternatively, you can text FRONTLINE to 85258 for 24/7 text support.

NHS practitioner health service

The NHS practitioner health service is confidential and can be accessed between 8am-8pm weekdays and 8am-2pm weekends by emailing gp.health@nhs.net, calling 0300 0303 300 or visiting the website at https://www.practitionerhealth.nhs.uk.

NHS wellbeing apps

NHS staff have been given free access to a number of wellbeing apps to support with their mental health and wellbeing. 

Visit the NHS England wellbeing apps page for more information, including how to access support and to find out which apps are currently available to NHS staff free of charge.

Our NHS people

Our NHS people is a wellbeing support platform created by the NHS as support for you to manage your own health and wellbeing while you look after others at this time. It offers short guides, pathways through information and links to external apps.

Our NHS people requires registration but doesn’t require an NHS email address. Find out more at https://people.nhs.uk.

Practitioner Health

Practitioner Health is a free, confidential NHS mental health treatment service with expertise in treating healthcare professionals. The service can help with mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder. They also see healthcare professionals with more severe illnesses, such as bipolar affective disorder, personality disorders and psychosis and with a range of addiction issues.