Strengthening wellbeing at Mersey Care: what you told us and what we’re doing 

Following the 2025 Health Needs Assessment (HNA), we remain committed to taking meaningful and practical action to support the wellbeing of all Mersey Care colleagues. To strengthen this work, the Trust has established a Health and Wellbeing Group (HWG), a dedicated subgroup of the Operational Workforce Group. 

The HWG brings together key staff representatives from across the Trust, all focused on driving a positive health and wellbeing culture. The group will ensure the right resources, strategic plans and policies are in place to make Mersey Care a healthy, supportive and inclusive place to work. 

Your feedback has directly shaped a focused programme of work that responds to the key themes raised through the HNA. This programme is designed to ensure improvements are visible, meaningful and aligned with what matters most to our workforce. It will continue to evolve, and we will keep you updated as further developments are made. 

What we heard: 

Colleagues shared several strong and consistent themes across the Trust: 

  • A need for greater support for leaders and managers to help create stronger wellbeing cultures 

  • System pressures creating high levels of stress and burnout for our workforce 

  • Difficulties accessing wellbeing support due to limited capacity and time 

  • Financial wellbeing pressures, including reports of skipping meals and pension optouts 

 

Actions being taken 

  • OHWB is working closely with Organisational Effectiveness on collaborative approaches to inform supportive leadership and wellbeing practice 

  • OHWB has produced the Creating Good Wellbeing Cultures Guide to support our Line Managers to make informed decisions for their staff and improving  the quality of any  management referral relating to fitness for work decisions. You can find the guide on Your Space:  https://yourspace.merseycare.nhs.uk/oh-referral-manager  

  • We have launched a new Burnout to Balance offer, available both as part of our programme and or can be delivered directly to teams who need targeted support. 

  • We will continue to offer Wellbeing Check-ins giving colleagues access to confidential 1:1 advice, space to reflect, and guidance on the support available to help them look after their wellbeing 

  • Increasing Wellbeing Team presence across sites so support is visible, local and easy to reach for staff with limited capacity and digital access 

  • Working with partners to bring services onsite, such as the Living Well Bus to provide Cervical Screening and health support directly at our workplaces 

  • We are continuing to enhance our online Staff Wellbeing Hub, making it simpler to navigate and easier for colleagues to find the resources and support they need 

  • Spotlighting our current support ensuring information is cascaded across teams and support Networks such as our Wellbeing Advocates on support such as Pay Plan and NHS Credit Union to ensure wide awareness  

  • Continue to provide our Winter Wellbeing programme across sites to help workforce stay well over winter as well as provide an opportunity for them to link in directly with partners such as Energy Projects Plus to get advice and guidance on hardships being experienced during this time such as fuel insecurity