Why public sector workers need a Samaritans-style helpline
Its not true that all the fun has gone out of local government but as we approach budget announcements in July it feels there is little cheer left. I presented the reports of the findings from our interim evaluation of the Lincolnshire Well-Being Service today which I think can show it has delivered potentially over £6 million in acute health costs. This article therefore leapt out at me as I was compiling Hinterland. It tells us:
When we are vulnerable and in need of care for a serious problem, we want to be able to turn to someone we trust, who can give us their full and undivided attention. One of the measures of a civilised society is the capacity to care for its citizens in times of suffering and distress. In the UK, a large part of this fabric of compassion is to be found in our public sector health and social services. Current political debate about public sector care is dominated by the issues of funding and competencies. But this neglects a much more fundamental concern about the quality of all care: the fact that even if a doctor, nurse, social worker or therapist has the time, training and skill to help, they may not always be in a state of mind to do so fully. Our public model of the ideal professional care-giver is of someone who can be endlessly human to others without needing anything human in return.
All the attention of policy-making and strategy is on the quality of care delivered and almost none of it on the quality of support for those providing that care. And yet the two are inextricably linked. Staff ill health costs £45m a year in the social care sector alone, yet no one thinks to ask questions like “how much human distress can a professional hold in their mind before they reach their limit?” or “how much time and back-up do professionals need at work to process the daily emotional impact of what they are doing so that they can carry on doing it?” This article suggest a national helpline and website with confidential chat rooms available 24/7 for public sector staff. As well as create supportive peer groups and online spaces within and across professions, it could also flag up any organisations where staff were experiencing problems in significant numbers and where there might be toxic working environments.