The Association for Perioperative Practice (AfPP) has gone into partnership with Big White Wall, an online mental health and wellbeing service.
Big White Wall offers anonymous, safe 24/7 peer and professional support with trained healthcare professionals online at all times. It also provides a supportive community and a range of information and wellbeing tools, including self-directed courses covering a selection of topics from improving sleep and quitting smoking to managing anxiety and avoiding procrastination.
Poor mental health amongst healthcare professionals and the effect it has on patient care is one of the most talked about issues in healthcare. This is true now more than ever, as we live through the Coronavirus pandemic.
Dawn Stott, CEO of the Association explains: ‘As an organisation we take patient outcomes and the wellbeing of all perioperative practitioners very seriously. We’re continually looking for ways to support our members because we know that working within the perioperative environment is extremely rewarding but can also be stressful and bring unique challenges. This is even more apparent in the current circumstances.’
The introduction of this new member benefit was driven by the results of AfPP’s Caring for those who Care survey, conducted at the end of last year. The aim of the survey was to improve understanding of the issues faced by perioperative professionals at work. An alarming 86 per cent of responders said they felt concerned about staff wellbeing and the effect it’s having on patient safety. The results indicated that bullying is one of the major factors raising concerns.
Dawn continues: ‘Since AfPP conducted the survey, we have entered the coronavirus pandemic. It has been widely reported that this is taking its toll on the mental health of many healthcare professionals and we felt it was more important than ever to be able to acknowledge these challenges and provide our members with a resource to help them manage their mental health concerns.’
Louise Ashton, marketing lead at the Association added: ‘Big White Wall is designed to help people get support, take control and feel better. AfPP members can register at Big White Wall to take advantage of the services and the support it provides. Registrations to date have exceeded our expectations with more AfPP members registering all the time. It is a clear demonstration that healthcare professionals need support. We hope that as many of our members as possible will take advantage of the service.’
As the leading membership organisation for the perioperative workforce, the Association for Perioperative Practice put patient and staff safety at the heart of all they do.
Their mission is to improve standards of care and patient safety within the perioperative arena by determining correct standards and promoting best practice, facilitating education and practice development, providing professional support services for perioperative practitioners, providing a forum for partnership with industry and shaping healthcare policy in the UK.
To find out more or to join the Association, please visit www.afpp.org.uk.
