and dangerous circumstances that are emotionally and physically challenging. A suite of free apps has been offered to assist staffwith theirmental health, with everything fromguidedmeditation to tools to battle anxiety and helpwith sleep problems. There have beenmany calls to theNational Helpline to date, text conversations, tens of thousands of downloads of apps and self-help materials and huge numbers of sessions on thepeople.nhs.ukwebsite. I have had the privilege of participating in aseries of webinarseachwithmore than 1,000 participants andvideos , with more than 4,000 views each, for NHS staffand leaders to explain howwe can bestmanage stress andwellbeing, lead andwork in teams, and promote cultures of compassion. It is crucial to generate a climate of compassion and support withinNHS teams – there have been wonderful outpourings of compassion and lovewithin our communities , but this also needs toflow into health and careworkplaces to support staff . TheNHS has always had a hierarchical command and control culture, and it is not helpful, because theworkforce – as we have seen – is highlymotivated and highly skilled. We need to be less controlling, less demanding of them, to give themmore scope to shape health services andwemust value their contribution. One of themost extraordinary features of the crisis was the scale and pace of innovation. NHS stafftransformed entire hospitals and it is illustrative of what can happenwhenwe release stafffromthe bureaucracy, regulation and administrative burden, that have contributed to staffstress levels for many years. There is a need for leaders tomodel compassionate leadership – to take the time to listen to staff , to understand the challenges they are facing, to empathise with them, and then to continually ask how they, as leaders, can help. It is vital to ensure that staffhave a voice and influence if we are to retain them. The danger is that in crises leaders adopt more of a threat rigiditymode rather than listening to people on the front-line. Of course, in an emergency you do need an emergency response – clarity of structures and processes – butmore than ever at a time like this, we need to be listening to front-line staffand drawing on their knowledge skills and experience. We have to build strong teamwork in, so that people feel part of effective teams, and that those teams, despite all the pressures, are regularly taking time out every day –whether 10minutes at the start, 10minutes at the end – to come together, to review, to support each other, and tomake surewe are not placing staffunder conditions of stress andworkload that are unmanageable. Of course, this has been a pressured situation and there are huge demands on staff , but it is also vital that leaders realistically appraise theworkload of staffbecause chronic excessive workload is the biggest threat to staff health andwellbeing in health care; It is also themain reasonwhy staffintend to quit or actually quit. And it threatens patient safety and high quality care. We are notmachines, we get ill, and the more staffwho have avoidable illnesses, the less wewill be able to cope. After the dark times of this crisis, we must let the light come streaming in and make changes that will be a catalyst for theNHS becoming aworld leader in caring for the health andwellbeing of its 1.4million staff . Some staffwill feel they have grown as a result of theCovid-19 challenge, but therewill also be a lot of trauma and stress. Staffsupport during the recovery periodwill be vital. NHS staffhavemade an enormous sacrifice and contribution, and some have risked their lives in this pandemic. After we come through theworst of the crisis, wemust transformtheway that we support them, given how they have supported and cared for the country. In order to provide high quality and compassionate care for patients and communities, wemust provide high quality and compassionate support for staff . Michael West is a Professor in Organisational Psychology in the Department of Organisation, Work and Technology. m.a.west@lancaster.ac.uk FIFTY FOURDEGREES | 9 It is a hugely challenging time for staff . They have had to face the fear of anticipating a very high intensity of work. ʻʻ ʼʼ
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