Reducing stress for patients and staff at King’s is one of our key priorities as a Charity. To mark Stress Awareness Week, we're celebrating the steps we’re taking to reduce the pressures on everyone who enters our hospitals– from doctors and nurses to patients and their families, thanks to your donations.
Transforming parent rooms
This Spring, thanks to brilliant fundraising efforts, we transformed three parent rooms to create a calming sanctuary for parents with sick children.
We converted the spaces, once cramped and lacking in privacy, into carefully designed rooms with comfortable seating, soft lighting, and calming colours and artwork.
The rooms give parents the opportunity to take a break from the clinical environment of the wards and talk, eat and relax in a peaceful environment.
Improving green spaces
Last year, we committed £25,000 to improve green spaces at our Denmark Hill site to reduce stress levels and improve mental and physical health among staff and patients.
We created a green garden area for staff to unwind, an indoor oasis, and added artworks featuring natural scenes to hospital rooms and spaces.
Being in nature, or even viewing scenes of nature, can completely change how patients feel in hospital, from reducing stress and anxiety to speeding up recovery.
Funding a private therapy space
With generous support from donors, we funded a peaceful private therapy space for King’s staff to escape to and speak to a professional when they feel overwhelmed or distressed.
The refurbished and decorated room provides a quiet space for staff to unwind away from wards. We've also funded trained psychologists and social support workers to give staff specialist psychological support.
Volunteer service and Patient Welcome Pack
Patients can find arriving at hospital to be stressful, and we are glad to provide funding to the volunteer service who greet visitors at reception and help with wayfinding.
We also provide all patients with the Patient Welcome Pack to inform them on what to expect from their stay, a measure designed to reduce patients' stress and anxiety about their time in hospital.
Establishing the Wellbeing Team and Hub
Thanks to our supporters and donors, we opened the permanent Wellbeing Hub at King’s College Hospital.
The Wellbeing Team and Health & Wellbeing Hubs were established in 2020 as part of the Trust’s response to Covid-19, offering a safe place for staff to decompress.
To continue supporting staff at King’s, Health & Wellbeing was established as a permanent service, featuring a dedicated team and relaxing Wellbeing Spaces across Denmark Hill, Princess Royal University Hospital and Orpington Hospital.
The Wellbeing Team, trained in Mental Health First Aid, now primarily focuses on providing emotional support to staff and offering informal advice.
The Team facilitates reflective group sessions, stress management and mindfulness workshops, and a wide variety of art and music activities, among other initiatives. These services equip staff with the tools to refocus their minds and maintain their overall health.
The King’s Wellbeing Team said: “Healthcare professionals who are physically and mentally well are better equipped to provide safe and effective care, show greater compassion and empathy, and deal with stress and burnout.
They added: “As we navigate our way through the increasing demands on the NHS, complex pressures, and economic challenges, prioritising the wellbeing of our staff has never been more important.”
Our Charity CEO Gail Scott-Spicer said: “As Stress Awareness Week highlights, stress can have severe and harmful impacts on our physical and mental health.
“Supporting patient and staff wellbeing is an important part of our work as a Charity. Doctors and nurses work tirelessly to ensure positive outcomes for their patients– so ensuring staff are well looked after and able to manage their stress levels is something we are constantly working to support.
Gail added: “The hospitals we support are leading the way in terms of reducing stress for patients and staff, and it will continue to be extremely important to us moving forward.”
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