As a public governor for the NHS, my role is to represent and communicate the needs of the public, but I also work closely with the staff governors who stand for NHS staff needs.
It has been a real eye opener to see that staff members not only in the NHS but all care providing establishments are under immense pressure and suffering from mental health even pre covid. For example social workers especially have a lot of caseloads and unbooked supervision that is vital for them to process their mental and emotional labour when working in the public.
Care givers can be very strong/resilient people however they are human too. The emotional distress that comes with the work no matter how rewarding it is, can be destroying if their well-being is not taken into account and taken action to ensure they are being looked after. Supervision/Check ins/Reviews/Timeout are vital in the public and 3rd sector. No matter how strong care givers display they are, they should be encouraged to say when they need help. They need their team and workforce to be present with them. See and hear them when work gets too busy when they are going 100mph.
It is easy to forget our own needs when caring for others, therefore in order to provide the best care and support to services users/public/clients its essential that staff and care providers are also put first so they have the capacity and energy to provide their best selves. This is also relevant to those that are self employed in the caring professions. Foundations, Charities and trusts etc are businesses too and there are targets to be met, however they should not be met at the expense of great care providers.
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