Spiritual care - staff support
Staff support is delivered through individual one-hour appointments in which staff can raise any issues or concerns which impact on their ability to carry out their work effectively.
"The staff support service has been a lifeline to me during very difficult times in my life. I can confidently say that without their amazing support I would not be working as a doctor today."
Dr Rutherford
Important: Contact
About staff support
Staff member issues or concerns could be:
- personal - such as bereavements
- professional - such as loss of confidence or motivation
...providing time and space to reflect on the impact work has on your personal and professional self.
Staff support is where staff reflect on the relationship between their personal stories and the shared story of the workplace - the interface between the two having significant influence on staff resilience, behaviours, attitudes, decision-making and wellbeing.
This form of staff support is open access: staff can self-refer or be referred (with their consent) by a colleague or manager.
The number of appointments is determined jointly by the staff member and chaplain in response to the presenting issues. Some come once. Others return for a number of sessions. On exiting the service an evaluation form is given to the participant which is completed anonymously.
Professional work-based supervision
The Head of Service is an accredited professional supervisor, along with the Lead staff support chaplain who is a qualified supervisor; the service provides cross-professional supervision for staff within NHS Highland.
Facilitated group support
Values Based Reflective Practice (VBRP©) is an NES-backed initiative which offers staff facilitated reflection and support. It is a mode of practice which creates space for staff to reconnect with what brought them into their vocation. In previous years within the Highland area, VBRP has been welcomed by GPs, Police Scotland and other external agencies as a means of reflection.
Pictured left to right: Mike Robertson - Lead Staff Support Chaplain; Janet Davidson - Head of Spiritual Care and Staff Support.
