Something’s gotta give – don’t let it be your psychological health.

IPSIG Blog February 2016

Something’s gotta give – don’t let it be your psychological health.

“I can’t believe I’m getting paid for something that gives me so much satisfaction”, is not something you’re likely to hear a psychological therapist working in IAPT say anytime soon.

According to recent findings from the British Psychological Society and New Savoy a staff wellbeing survey in 2015 shows that, “ 46% of psychological professionals surveyed report depression. 49.5% report feeling they are a failure. One quarter consider they now have a long-term, chronic condition, and 70% say they are finding their jobs stressful. All these findings are increased from 2014, with reported stress at work up by 12%. Incidents of bullying and harassment had more than doubled. The overall picture is one of burnout, low morale and worrying levels of stress and depression in a key workforce that is responsible for improving the mental health of the public. Whilst the majority of respondents made negative comments about their work environment, 10%  of comments were more positive”.

Below are a selection of feedback comments from participants and it doesn’t make for pretty reading.

* Being target driven is the bane of our lives

* IAPT is a politically driven monster, which does not cater for staff feedback/input in any                            way. All we are told is TARGETS!!! And work harder.

* It is invigorating to work in a team where thoughtfulness, understanding, support & compassion are central to what we do, not seen as an optional extra or a luxury

*I am so disappointed I have just resigned

*I carry my resignation in my diary now as I feel that I’m on the verge of giving up battling.
You can peruse the results and analysis of the survey of over 1,300 psychological professionals in the NHS as presented recently at the 9th Annual Psychological Therapies in the NHS conference here:

htttp://www.healthcareconferencesuk.co.uk/psychological-therapies-2016.

Reading about the alarmingly high rates of stress and burnout took me right back to a run down NHS car park in 2000. The kind of place where you needed to check your car still had all four tyres before driving off. I was working in a CMHT that was suffering the negative effects of excessive workload, limited resources and an ever-increasing pressure to restore patients to full psychological health in six sessions. By the way does anyone know when 6 became the magic number?

It was the Friday before a long anticipated two-week holiday with my family. As I tidied up my desk and waved goodbye my exit was barely acknowledged by colleagues. They were busily tapping in their days activities into a recently introduced handheld brick like device that would have made a good door stop but was instead used to monitor staff activity. As I walked to the car my eyes began to sting. ‘ Have a great holiday would have been nice ‘ I muttered. As I opened the car door I heard the hurried footsteps of a colleague behind me. Aw, she remembered. Well, no she didn’t actually.“Would you mind administering these depot injections on the way home?” Well, yes. I would mind. In fact I minded so much that the resignation letter I had rehearsed in my head for so many months was written that night and the rest as they say is history. When colleagues are so demoralised and distracted that even the most basic of common courtesies is completely eroded   it really is time to move on.

What surprises is that it’s taken so long to recognise something that was so widespread fifteen years ago. However, better late than never and in response to this crisis leading mental health charities, mental health trusts, the CQC, the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the BAPCP and others, are all committing to support a collaborative effort to improve the wellbeing and resilience of psychological staff who deliver key services. The launching of a Charter aims to re-set the balance and asks for a greater focus on support for staff well -being.

http://www.healthcareconferencesuk.co.uk/news/newsfiles/charter-2016_1314.pdf

Now. I love a Charter me. The Magna Carta amusingly described by Eddie Izzard as ‘the big card’ is famous for setting the foundations for freedom of the individual against the arbitrary authority of the dictator and it doesn’t bear thinking about the injustices over turned or avoided as a result of the British Human Rights Act. But hang on a minute, aren’t many of these hospital trusts sporting a shiny gold plaque proclaiming their investment in staff training and people? I know mine was?

If your employer was awarded IP status you might recall having had a conversation with an independent assessor during the assessment period. No? How about regular briefings, frequent feedback and review meetings about your performance. Still no? Surely it was made clear to you how your job helps your organisation achieve its goals? Me neither.

Here’s a quick revision class on what employers following the IIP standard should have been doing:

• Demonstrating a commitment to developing their workforce.
• Running induction programmes for new staff and existing staff changing roles.
• Making their goals clear and show staff how they help to meet them.
• Giving part-time staff the same access to training as full-timers.
• Encouraging staff to develop skills that will help them do their job and progress within the company. This could be through courses, shadowing, mentoring or other training opportunities.
• Evaluating training and development through appraisals, meetings and feedback.
• Recognising hard work.
• Keeping staff informed of what is happening and why in the organisation, through meetings, newsletters or intranets.
• Listening to staff and encourage them to express their opinions.

What a lot of verbiage posing as verbs this turned out to be. The fact that it has been deemed necessary to launch a Charter suggests that any value attached to IIP status in some health service trusts has not been worth the plaque those little laurel wreaths are etched on. We all have to hope that the laudable sentiments expressed by Professor Jamie Hacker Hughes, BPS President, in endorsing the Charter translate into concrete action not least because the effects are not just confined to staff. The implications for service delivery and patient care are too numerous to mention. Suffice to say, a demoralised, depressed, unmotivated therapist is not going to be able to get out of bed in the morning let alone be in a position to offer high quality, effective psychological interventions to patients.

Fortunately working as an IP offers some protection from the threats to psychological well being that so many has my friends and colleagues endure in NHS positions. I intend to address some of the very specific issues that IP’s need to contend with to maintain psychological health in a future blog but what I can say now is that as I get older I realise how important it is to do more of what makes you happy. I am just relieved that 16 years ago I didn’t lose sight of what those things were.

 

Patricia Murphy

@mspmurphy