Dental professionals benefiting from NHS #LookingAfterYouToo service
Dental professionals across the country are benefiting from a new service launched to support NHS staff.
The NHS #LookingAfterYouToo service is a confidential coaching service, which was established in 2020 to provide additional support during the pandemic. It is estimated that over 7,000 coaching sessions have already been booked by NHS staff.
The free service enables NHS workers to organise sessions with experienced coaches and it is open to all members of staff working within primary care. Feedback has been very positive so far, with early research indicating that individuals enjoyed better wellbeing and feelings of increased resilience and confidence following the sessions.
One employee who has used the service is a dental practitioner based in the community dental team. The anonymous participant reached out towards the beginning of the first lockdown, when there was a lot of confusing headlines floating around and a general lack of clarity, which exacerbated uncertainty and made it difficult to go to work.
The individual wanted help and advice to try and prepare for what was to come and to manage feelings brought about by the looming uncertainty. The dental worker talked to their coach about how to be a better manager and how to cope with situations, which were leading to them getting “wound up.”
Talking to the coach made the individual feel much more comfortable and confident and they recommended the service to colleagues. The participant said that this was a really helpful and valuable service, which offered something different to other wellbeing initiatives. The focus was to try and adapt and encourage them to think about how they could react and build resilience while taking good care of themselves and other professionals and patients.
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