Purpose
To protect the physical and psychological health of staff, recognising that staff wellbeing is a direct determinant of the quality and safety of care.
Scope
All employed, bank, agency and volunteer workers.
Commitments
Safe staffing levels based on assessed dependency, with escalation when they cannot be met.
Protected breaks, predictable rotas published at least four weeks ahead, and limits on consecutive long shifts.
Access to occupational health, an employee assistance programme and confidential counselling.
Support after difficult events
A structured debrief is offered after any death, serious incident, allegation or act of aggression, followed by a check-in within seven days.
Staff involved in an incident are supported as second victims, not treated as suspects.
Supervision and reflective practice
Formal supervision at least six times a year, plus an annual appraisal and access to group reflective practice.
Training and competency
All staff receive induction training on this policy before working unsupervised, refreshed at least annually or sooner following incident learning or a change in guidance.
Competency is confirmed through observation of practice, supervision discussion and reflective questioning — not attendance records alone.
Training records are maintained centrally and gaps are reviewed monthly against the training matrix.
Governance, monitoring and accountability
The registered manager holds overall accountability for this policy. Day-to-day implementation is delegated to named leads recorded in the service's accountability matrix.
Compliance is monitored through the service audit calendar, with findings reported to the monthly governance review and escalated to the provider board where risk is rated high.
Every audit finding is converted into an entry on the improvement action tracker with a named owner, priority rating, target date and evidence of completion.
Learning is shared with the whole team through team meetings, supervision and reflective practice sessions. Where a theme recurs, the policy itself is reviewed rather than the individual blamed.
- Monthly monitoring of sickness absence, turnover, agency use, vacancy rate and exit-interview themes.
- Lone-working risk assessments and check-in protocols.
- Violence and aggression risk assessment with post-incident review.
- Burnout indicators reviewed at team level, with workload redistributed rather than individual resilience blamed.
- Zero tolerance of abuse of staff, including discriminatory abuse from people using the service or families, with support plans agreed.
- Pay, progression, training access and disciplinary outcomes are reviewed annually by protected characteristic.
- Reasonable adjustments are made promptly and recorded; internationally recruited staff receive tailored induction, pastoral support and protection from exploitative practice.
Evidence of compliance
- Supervision records
- Wellbeing survey results
- Workforce equality analysis
- Debrief records
Suggested review cycle: Annually.