Publish date: 31 March 2025
Let’s make work better for everyone this April
April is Stress Awareness Month, and we’re focusing on understanding and addressing key work-related stressors. Each week, we’ll spotlight one area that impacts workplace wellbeing – workload, development opportunities, recognition and personal factors.
Together, we can create a supportive environment where stress is recognised and addressed.
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If you are feeling stressed, please don’t let things escalate - there are some simple things that might help:
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Email etiquette
One of the key factors that contribute to feeling overwhelmed at work is managing your email inbox. For example, from 4 February to 5 March 1,737,383 emails were sent and 7,095,989 received by staff from the Trust and IM!
Email is a fantastic way to share information and communicate. However, it’s important to consider other options and choose the right channel, for the right message.
Ask yourself, does this need to be an email?
Could this be a Microsoft Teams chat or call, or could I pick up the phone and have a conversation? Or perhaps I could meet my colleague for a coffee and a chat?
It’s important to be mindful when sending emails, we’ve compiled five things to look out for.
1. Be clear and concise
Respect the recipient's time. Be concise, focused and stick to the main points. Break up the content into short paragraphs or bullet points for easy reading. A good rule of thumb for how long an email should be is; short and to the point, typically no more than one to two short paragraphs or three to five brief sentences – and if it’s any longer, pick up the phone!
See the attached guidance for top tips for hybrid working when communicating with a diverse member of staff. See also the dyslexia friendly style guide.
2. Use the "Reply All" button sparingly
Only use "Reply All" when everyone in the thread needs to see your response. Avoid cluttering inboxes with unnecessary responses, and be selective about who truly needs to be in the loop.
3. Avoid overuse of urgent or important flags
Only mark an email as urgent if it is truly time sensitive. Overusing this feature can cause it to lose its meaning and add unnecessary pressure.
4. Be clear on your expectation from others
Add ‘Needed by’ or ‘For action’ to the subject line, and avoid ASAP. Instead, provide realistic deadlines (while appreciating that the person you’re sending this to will have competing priorities.) The more you can do to help colleagues manage their priorities, the better.
5. Be mindful of tone
Written communication can sometimes be misinterpreted. Be careful with how your tone of voice might come across. Use polite language and avoid sounding curt, aggressive, or sarcastic – AND NEVER RESPOND IN CAPITALS! (Exclamation marks can also be interpreted as shouting.) If you're sending something sensitive or difficult, always remain respectful, be tactful, and ask a colleague to read over what you’ve written before sending it.
Development opportunities
Feeling stuck in a rut can cause stress and demotivation.
Whether you're looking to sharpen your skills, explore new career paths, or take on leadership challenges, we’re here to support your journey.
From apprenticeships, to volunteering, to coaching and ARRIVE, STRIVE and THRIVE programmes – we’re here to help you unlock your potential - visit Your development.
- Each year, every member of staff completes their PACE (Personal, Achievement, Contribution and Evaluation) – this is a great opportunity to speak to your manager about the development opportunities in the Trust!
Recognition
Valuing our people is essential to Mersey Care.
Your Recognition is all about recognising and rewarding your good work, commitment to caring, and successes that make a difference to the lives of service users, patients, carers, and families as well as our staff and teams.
At Mersey Care, we have four reward and recognition schemes:
- Employee and Team of the Month - this is your opportunity to nominate an employee or team who you feel deserves to be recognised.
- Say ‘thank you’ - receiving a thank you lets you know your hard work has been noticed. Not only that, the thank you automatically goes into your PACE and the great news is that the system automatically notifies your line manager so they are aware of the great work you are doing. What’s more, saying thank you makes a huge difference to someone’s day, so why not send thanks to someone who made your day that little bit better today?
- Star Awards are our annual staff awards where we celebrate you and all the amazing work you do! It’s our chance to give recognition to individuals and teams who have made a real difference to our service users, patients, carers and colleagues. Keep an eye out for nominations which will open in summer 2025.
- Long Service Award - Colleagues who have completed 25 and 40 years of service in the NHS year will be eligible to receive a Long Service Award for their great achievement and dedication to the NHS. Staff employed on fixed term contracts or part time employment will be eligible on the same terms as staff employed on full time contracts.
We also love to hear about all the great work you do in, and outside of work – email communications
Personal factors
Looking after ourselves and supporting our colleagues are two of the most important things we can do to enable us to continue to provide the best care for our patients and service users.
The mental health charity MIND have outlines some steps that we can take to help us deal with pressure and managing stress.
Support available to you in Mersey Care
Within the Trust, our Staff Wellbeing Hub has a range of resources and sessions to help you manage your stress levels. Find out more in the drop down below.
Mersey Care strives to support the mental and physical health of its workforce, including the wider social aspects of health and wellbeing. As the cost-of-living rises, Mersey Care recognises many of our staff may face issues that can seem daunting and complicated. As a result, we have enlisted the services of Citizens Advice Liverpool, to provide independent advice and offer free, confidential support for those who need it.
We want to create an atmosphere where people can talk comfortably and respectfully about menopause. We also want to educate all staff about the subject and how they can support each other and enable reasonable adjustments. We have information sessions that cover the practical things you can do to support you on your menopause journey, forums, giving you the chance to share your storey or simply listen to others, and menopause champion training to enable you to be a point of contact for colleagues needing a listening ear or someone to initially talk to if they are not comfortable talking to their manager.
Mindfulness involves paying attention to what is going on inside and outside ourselves, moment by moment. Paying more attention to the present moment – to your own thoughts and feelings, and to the world around you – can improve your mental wellbeing. It can help us enjoy life more and understand ourselves better. Choose from weekly drop in sessions and our 4 week group programme, running every Thursday throughout April at 2pm.
We understand that being a parent can be incredibly rewarding, but it can also be tough at times. Whether you have a newborn or you have been a parent or carer for a while, looking after a little one will always have its challenges and, for some of us, it may even impact on our mental health. The Wellbeing team have designed short sessions, to support our colleagues to look after themselves, while they navigate the world of parenting. Next running on Tuesday 29 April at 2pm.
We have written a series of self help guides covering a wide range of topics such as depression, anxiety and stress which offer users the opportunity to find out more about the causes of mental health issues and provide tools to work through feelings and emotions. Our self help guides contain verified information and are written by NHS Clinical Psychologists with contributions from service users, healthcare and voluntary sector staff. Visit our website to view our self help guides.
Walking is simple, free and one of the easiest ways to get more active, lose weight and become healthier. Sometimes overlooked as a form of exercise, walking briskly can help you build stamina, burn excess calories and make your heart healthier. You don’t have to walk for hours, a brisk 10 minute daily walk has lots of health benefits. We have created some walking route maps for staff based at or working from the below sites you may wish to use during lunch or break times.
In this stress management workshop we will outline what stress is and how it works, the effect it has on our mental health and ultimately, how to reduce stress levels and prevent burnout. If you’re looking to build resilience, or to focus on creating healthy coping strategies to improve wellbeing, this short 45 minute session will provide you with the necessary information and tools to make an effective start. Sessions are running weekly during Stress Awareness Month.
Occupational Health and Wellbeing referrals
If you are managing an illness or an injury, a referral to Occupational Health can help. Civica Occupational Health (also known as OPAS-G2) is our Trust wide referral system to our occupational health and wellbeing service. OPAS-G2 is accessible for referrals to be created and viewed online 24/7 and provides a secure platform to run our service for colleagues, including management referrals, self-referrals, health surveillance, A Self-referral allows you to refer yourself directly to physiotherapy without having to be seen by another healthcare professional first if you have a neck or back problem, joint or muscle pain, or a recent injury such as a sprain or strain.
As part of Occupational Health and Wellbeing Service’s delivery model, we have introduced a new way to receive psychological therapy interventions. This is to improve access to services whilst ensuring all services are offered in line with NICE guidance. Colleagues referred to our Occupational Health and Wellbeing Service who are identified as requiring counselling support, will be offered the new Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) called Health Hero.
Staff should continue to self-refer in the usual way, by contacting the department on 01925 664010 or alternatively, emailing OHWB
Occupational Health and Wellbeing Services have teamed up with Knowsley Safari, to provide half day wellbeing sessions for teams across the Trust to take a step back from their day to day work and immerse themselves in nature and the great outdoors. Funded by our charity, Mersey Cares, it is a unique opportunity to recharge, refresh, and reconnect with yourself and your colleagues. A short video has been produced, to show you more about the initiative.
Supporting the mental health of collegues
Mental Health First Aiders develop skills to spot signs of people experiencing poor mental health. Occupational Health and Wellbeing Services are running courses on behalf of the organisation, with the aim of training more colleagues to be able to support the mental wellbeing of staff within the Trust. Courses run monthly and new dates are added regularly with in person and virtual options.
NHS Employers have produced a guide for supporting staff experiencing stress
Link in with Occupational Health and Wellbeing Staff wellbeing hub :: YourSpace Mersey Care