Health was at the heart of a unique project aimed at supporting Trust staff as part of Mental Health Awareness Week.
The health and wellbeing group at Ridgeway, our secure inpatient service in Middlesbrough, hosted a drop-in clinic for colleagues – offering a host of health checks and wellbeing support.
Group chair and admin manager Sophie Antill said: “The focus of the awareness week was on the relationship between mental and physical health.
“This inspired our H&W group to utilise the fantastic professionals across our service and provide a one-off space for staff to obtain physical health advice and support.”
Prescription for better health
The special health clinic was held at Ridgeway, which is on the site of Roseberry Park Hospital, and featured five stalls offering a range of support including:
· Health checks – blood pressure, pulse, oxygen, chest sounding and ears.
· Resources – self-help guides, health materials, food advice and exercise tips.
· Dietetics – nutrition information , visual aids and sugar count.
· Fitness – biometric weight-in , fitness advice/guidance and circuit sessions.
· Holistic healing – reiki and sound baths from Yarm Holistic Health.
“The day was a great success,” said Sophie. “We had some fantastic feedback and at least 40 members of staff received reiki treatments.
“Yarm Holistic Health offered their services for free – which was hugely appreciated, and very well-received. We plan to link with them more in the future, to ensure ongoing and alternative support is offered to staff who would like to access it.
“Two members of staff also received some valuable results from their physical health checks during the event, which they are now able to take forward with their GP. ”
Looking to the future
Such was the success of the health drop-in that Ridgeway’s H&W group is now planning to turn the one-off event into a regular clinic held on a quarterly basis.
“This is a lovely way to support our staff and encourage building interprofessional relationships on site,” added Sophie.
- A huge thanks to all the stallholders who took part including: Ridgeway Health Centre team, dietician Scott Musgrave, Ridgeway Fitness Team and Yarm Holistic Health.