Developing an NHS Staff Trauma Support Pathway

Swansea Bay University Health Board

Frontline healthcare professionals are regularly exposed to potentially psychologically traumatic events such as threats, violence, fatalities, and suicide. Given the increase in poor mental health among healthcare professionals, leading to rising sickness rates, it was imperative to explore the role of a systemic, targeted, trauma-focused pathway to support the workforce, reducing sickness absence and subsequent costs to Swansea Bay University Health Board. Plans were therefore developed to establish a trauma management / operation team to support prevention and early intervention.

A business case was developed to justify the investment in a trauma team, recruiting a staff trauma coordinator, identifying a training provider and developing a rolling programme of training and support. Once the trauma Lead was in post, a steering group was established with wider stakeholders including the Chaplaincy Team, the Care after Death Service and Swansea University colleagues who provided advice and guidance on evaluation. Relationships were developed with Trauma Stress Wales who provide a national strategic steer to Welsh Government.

The procured training provider ‘March on Stress’ delivered initial Trauma Risk Management (TRiM) and REACT ‘train the trainer’ training to three members of staff to enable the initial delivery of TRiM to 24 and REACT to 1000 frontline staff, with the aim of evaluating this initial cohort to inform future planning. A series of one hour virtual REACT sessions were provided for staff to understand trauma, recognise its effect, support colleagues and know who and how to refer onto for further support.

Analysis of the initial REACT and TRiM evaluation data showed that TRiM had supported seven Potentially Traumatic Events within the organisation, while 59% of respondents had used REACT training within the first month of being trained. Wider service evaluation demonstrated that 70% of staff in work stated the service helped them remain in work, while 82% of absentees stated the service helped them return to work sooner.