Becoming a Mental Health First Aider

Welcome to the latest podcast from Hillingdon Hospitals. In this episode, Lucy Wills is talking to Kavita Goreeba, a midwife in the Trust, about what it means to be a Mental Health First Aider and how we can all become one.

Being a MHFA is about being able to offer support and understanding to staff who would like to talk about their feelings in confidence.

It’s important to provide support to help the Trust to look after the mental health of the staff. 

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Transcript

A conversation about the Mental Health First Aiders course for staff at The Hillingdon Hospital NHS Trust 

Welcome to the latest podcast from Hillingdon Hospitals, I’m Lucy Wills and today I’m talking to Kavita Goreeba, a midwife here in the Trust, about what it means to be a Mental Health First Aider and how we can all become one.

First of all – what is a MHFA?

Being a MHFA is about being able to offer support and understanding to staff who would like to talk about their feelings in confidence.

It’s important to provide support to help the Trust to look after the mental health of the staff. 

And what’s on the course to become a Mental First Aider? 

The course gives an insight into the roles and responsibilities of a mental health first aider. It also teaches about the different types of mental health conditions and how to support members of staff.

Can you tell us more about the course that we offer staff, and what’s on it?

we learn how to :

• Encourage people to challenge the language we use around mental health
• explore our different frames of reference and the stigma attached to mental health

The course teaches us a format to helping people to understand what good mental health looks like

• Exploring the factors that can have an impact on our mental health
• It also Looks at how to support yourself and others with self-care, giving the skills to influence your own mental health and help prevent mental ill health
• Teaches how to intervene (including in a crisis), reassure and signpost to further support
• It also teaches about diagnosable mental health conditions, what unwell looks like and how to spot these signs in yourself and others
• It talks about what to do if you think someone is unwell and the steps to take for early intervention and explores recovery from mental illness and how to look forward.

Sounds in depth, how long is the course and can any member of staff do it? 

It’s an online course and takes just 2 days. 

Anyone can book on, just ask your line manager about booking on. 

Volunteers will need to be permanent members of staff who have been confirmed in post, are up to date with their statutory, mandatory training requirements. 

Mental Health First Aiders are all over the trust, such as Midwives, Doctors, Line managers, HR professionals, Radiologists, Staff Nurses.. anyone can do it.

What does it mean to you to be a MHFA?

Like First Aid, being a mental health first aider I realised that it is not about diagnosing or fixing the issue, but it is about listening, knowing how to recognise the signs of crisis, respond appropriately and prevent things from getting worse until further help is available. I thoroughly enjoyed the training and would highly recommend it to anyone who has the opportunity to take part.

How do you use it in your role?

As a Mental Health First Aider in the trust I am a point of contact for employees and have helped staff experiencing stress, emotional distress, anxiety and depression. My interaction could range from having an initial conversation, through to supporting the person to get appropriate help. As a Mental Health First Aider I am not trained to be therapist or psychiatrist, but able to offer initial support through non-judgemental listening and guidance for any member of staff who would like to express their feelings in confidence.

If someone is interested how can they book on to the course? 

As part of the commitment to support health and wellbeing of staff, the Trust is looking to recruit volunteers to become Mental Health First Aiders (MHFA). If you are interested in becoming a Mental Health First Aider please express interest to your line manager. 

If a member of the public is interested in bringing this to their workplace, what can they do?

To find out more about Mental Health First Aid, look at the MHFA England website - mhfaengland.org. They have details about bringing the role of mental health first aiders to your workplace.

Thank you for joining me today. If any member of staff is interested the course, talk to your manager to find out more. And members of the public, go to mhfaengland.org to find out how you can bring this initiative to your workplace.

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