NHS colleagues from across Norfolk and Suffolk have come together to remember healthcare workers who have died by suicide and launch a new partnership to strengthen wellbeing support for staff.
Representatives from primary care, Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT), NHS Norfolk and Suffolk Integrated Care Board (ICB) and specialist support organisations gathered at Hartismere Hospital on Thursday 17 September to mark NHS Worker Suicide Awareness Day.
Together, they planted a memorial tree to provide a lasting place for reflection and remembrance, while also marking the launch of a new programme to improve wellbeing and postvention support for NHS colleagues across Norfolk and Suffolk.
The new Wellbeing and Postvention programme will initially focus on people working across primary care and mental health services, reaching a workforce of around 6,000 people.
The partnership brings together NSFT and primary care partners, alongside organisations with expertise in supporting healthcare professionals. Doctors in Distress and NHS Practitioner Health also joined colleagues for the event at Hartismere Hospital.
The programme aims to make it easier for staff to access wellbeing support when they need it and strengthen the help available to individuals and teams following the sudden death or suicide of a colleague.
It will build on support already available, bringing partners together to identify gaps and develop a more consistent approach across organisational boundaries. Plans include flexible and confidential support, peer networks and training, alongside a shared approach to postvention – the support provided to people and organisations following a suicide or sudden death.
Importantly, the programme will be co-produced with the people it is intended to support. Staff from across primary care and mental health services will be invited to share their experiences and help shape what the future support looks like, rather than partners starting with a predetermined model.
Aimee Longfoot, Chief Executive Officer at Suffolk Local Medical Committee, said:
“We know from our work with general practice just how profound the impact can be when a colleague is struggling or a team experiences a sudden loss. This project has grown from some incredibly difficult experiences across our workforce, but it gives us an opportunity to create something positive and lasting.
“Our ambition is that everyone working across health and care knows where to turn for support, can access that support before they reach crisis point, and no team is left to navigate the impact of a tragedy alone. Planting this tree feels a fitting way to mark the start of work that we hope will take root and continue to grow long beyond the life of the project.”
Naomi Woodhouse, Chief Executive Officer at Norfolk and Waveney Local Medical Committee, said:
“This is a welcome opportunity to bring to the forefront the importance of appropriate and accessible wellbeing and postvention support across general practice, mental health services and the wider health and care system. The focus of this project is not to develop a one-size-fits-all approach, but instead to use co-production with colleagues, listening to what is needed and designing support that genuinely works in real-world settings.
“Through this approach, it is hoped that support can be designed which recognises the often unique and wide-ranging needs of colleagues, while creating an environment in which people feel able to ask for the help they need without stigma, and where support feels accessible and appropriate for all.”
The programme is intended to reach the breadth of primary care, including people working in general practice, community pharmacy, dentistry and optometry, alongside mental health colleagues, with an emphasis on ensuring support is inclusive and accessible to clinical and non-clinical staff.
Cath Byford, Chief Patient Experience Officer and Deputy Chief Executive Officer at NSFT, said:
“The loss of a colleague to suicide has a profound and lasting impact on their family, friends and the people they worked alongside. Planting this tree together gives us a permanent place to remember colleagues we have lost and to reflect on the importance of looking after one another.
“But remembrance must also be accompanied by action. Through this partnership, we want to strengthen support before people reach crisis and ensure that, following a suicide or sudden death, colleagues and teams receive compassionate and timely support. By working together, we can help create a culture where talking about our wellbeing and asking for help becomes part of how we care for each other.”
NSFT brings specialist expertise in trauma, suicide prevention and psychological support to the partnership, while primary care partners bring their experience of community-based resilience and peer support.
Dr David Cargill, NHS Norfolk and Suffolk ICB Partner Member for Primary Care in Suffolk, said:
“This project is a great example of what we can achieve by working across organisational boundaries. By bringing together primary care, mental health expertise and partners from across Norfolk and Suffolk, we can build on the support already available and address gaps together.
“Most importantly, the next stage will be about listening. We want colleagues themselves to help shape support that is practical, accessible and trusted by the people it is there to help.”
Ed Garratt OBE, Chief Executive, NHS Norfolk and Suffolk ICB, said:
“Every person working in our NHS matters. Behind every role is an individual, with family, friends and colleagues, and we must never lose sight of the pressures that people working in health and care can experience.
“Planting this tree together is a powerful way to remember colleagues who have died by suicide, but it must also strengthen our resolve to look after one another. We want people across our NHS to feel able to talk openly about their wellbeing, to ask for help without fear or stigma, and to know that support will be there when they need it.
“I am proud to see organisations across Norfolk and Suffolk making this commitment together. Supporting the wellbeing of our workforce is not the responsibility of any one organisation – it is something we all share.”
Following the launch, the programme will move into an engagement and discovery phase, with staff helping to shape the model through co-production. This will be followed by the development and implementation of the wellbeing offer, with evaluation built in throughout.
The longer-term ambition is to embed a sustainable approach to wellbeing and postvention across mental health and primary care in Norfolk and Suffolk, with partners sharing expertise and developing skills within their organisations so that support can continue into the future.