Support for the Practice Team
Page Contents
Locum Support for the Practice Team
Mental Health & Wellbeing Hubs
Wessex LMCs are here to help you however we can. There are plenty of resources out there, you may find the following helpful for the practice team…
Apps & Websites
Daylight – A smartphone based app that provides help to people experiencing symptoms of worry and anxiety, using evidence-based cognitive behavioural techniques, voice and animation.
Headspace – An app based around teaching mindfulness meditation principles to improve your wellbeing.
Mood – A web based mood tracking and management platform.
Sleepio – An app for sleep management, combining cognitive behaviour principles and the latest in sleep research.
Mind Apps -Please find all Mind approved apps
Various NHS recommended Apps – NHS staff have been given free access to a number of wellbeing apps to support with their mental health and wellbeing.
(with many thanks to Julia O’Mara. Mental Health First Aider for the information above)
Bereavement Support
Sudden Bereavement Support Pilot (rcgp.org.uk)
The sudden passing of a friend or colleague can be a difficult and traumatic experience, which may be made harder to cope with given the pressures of continuing to run a busy general practice. This immediate support is funded by NHS England following the sudden death of a key practice member; such as a partner or practice manager whose impact on the practice is considered to be critical.
The RCGP have selected a small team of advisers from our Primary Care Development programme and trained them to provide practical operational support and be a voice for the practice as they navigate a difficult and destabilising time. This work is supported by the mental health service provided by Practitioner Health. This support is provided at no cost to the practice.
Please use this contact form to get in touch. Alternatively, you can ring the Practice Support team on 020 3188 7637. Please note that this number is not monitored during evenings or weekends.
Other useful resources:
Responding to the death by suicide of a colleague in primary care
Framework for managing sudden and unexpected death of a colleague in primary care
Coaching
Anyone from GP practices can access one session of express coaching options below if they need just one session to get them through a particularly challenging situation:
South-west practices: Express Coaching Sessions – South West Leadership Academy
South-east practices: Bitesize Coaching – South East Leadership Academy
Financial Assistance
To help with financial wellbeing concerns the Money Helper Service, offers a free and impartial money advice telephone, WhatsApp, and text support line.
Also see The Cameron Fund who support solely to General Practitioners and their dependent family, who find themselves living in financial hardship or distress.
Locum Support for the Practice Team
Click here to find a list of GPs, PMs, Nurses and Practice Staff who are advertising their capacity to work as locums. (please note you must be logged into the website with your email and password to view). It’s recommend that practices and individuals using our jobs pages undertake their own due diligence, before entering into an agreement.
Mental Health at Work
A new health and wellbeing guide has been developed by NHS England to support teams to improve their health and wellbeing through a culture-change approach. This guide is designed to empower and enable teams to come together to shape their health and wellbeing journey, building on the NHS Health and Wellbeing Framework
The Supporting Your Mental Health and Wellbeing | NHS England | Workforce, training and education resources aims to help identify and provide support to learners’ struggling with their mental health and may be at risk of burnout, work performance issues and suicide. These resources will also help to address a potential gap in the training of clinical/educational supervisors who may not have much experience or feel confident in dealing with these sensitive issues.
Wessex LMCs podcasts on Resilience, Wellbeing and Support can be found here
Mental Health & Wellbeing Hubs
The staff mental health and wellbeing hubs have been set up to provide health and social care colleagues rapid access to assessment and local evidence-based mental health services and support where needed. The hub offer is confidential and free of charge for all health and social care staff. NHS England » Staff mental health and wellbeing hubs
NHS
Talking therapies
Talking therapies, or psychological therapies, are effective and confidential treatments delivered by fully trained and accredited NHS practitioners. They can help with common mental health problems like stress, anxiety and depression.
You can access talking therapies for free on the NHS. A GP can refer you, or you can refer yourself directly to an NHS psychological therapies service (IAPT) without a referral from a GP. Find out more here: NHS talking therapies – NHS (www.nhs.uk)
Other NHS Support Resources
The NHS is supporting staff is being via a number of resources for their physical, mental and financial health and wellbeing.
For people that need someone to talk to, NHS England has introduced a confidential 24/7 text support service in addition to the support already available. The service can be accessed by texting SHOUT to 85258 and is available to all NHS colleagues who may have had a tough day, are feeling worried or overwhelmed, or have a lot on their mind and need to talk it through.
Practice Level Support
Hands-on improvement for practices is being provided by the RCGP
The Practice Level Support (PLS) programme is delivered in partnership with NHS England, and provides tailored, hands-on improvement support designed to enhance patient care, and practice efficiencies. Through weekly face-to-face sessions and group-based learning, the facilitators work directly with your practice team to plan, implement, and sustain meaningful improvements in access, workflow, and patient experience.
PLS expert advisers can help:
- Optimise patient access, and improve signposting to the most appropriate care
- Make full use of the multi-professional team
- Improve operational efficiency and workflow
- Enhance patient experience
- Build in-house capability for ongoing quality improvement
From June 2026 for 3 years, the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) secured a 3 year contract to continue delivering Practice Level Support (PLS) to GP practices across the South West of England. To find out more and see how it can help your practice, please contact PCD@rcgp.org.uk
If you are outside of RCGP’s allocated delivery regions, please speak to your ICB about accessing support. Alternatively read the NHS England National General Practice Improvement Programme guide.
Self-Care & Stress Management
Ongoing news reports can contribute to increased anxiety and stress. Set a limit on how much time you spend checking the news. The World Health Organization’s director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus encouraged people to check the news from reliable sources only once or twice a day.
Other ways you can manage your stress include:
Adequate sleep – ensure you’re getting 6-8 hours of sleep a night
Up your vitamin C intake – citrus fruits are the best way to boost your immune system
Meditation – even three minutes of meditation a day can have positive effects on your health
Light exercise – take a walk around the neighbourhood; fresh air and sunlight are great for your immune system and can increase your mood and decrease your anxiety levels
Alternative methods to Socialise – check in with friends via FaceTime or give them a call
At-home hobbies to give your mind some respite from work –puzzles or just catching up on TV shows
When it’s all feeling a bit too overwhelming, it may be helpful to focus on what you are grateful for. Some people find it really therapeutic to make a daily “gratitude list” in order to build psychological resiliency.
Support for GPs
- Wessex LMCs have some particular support for GPs via our GP Support and Development Scheme
- The NHS England commissioned service Practitioner Health details which are available for GPs are here: www.england.nhs.uk/gp/the-best-place-to-work/retaining-the-current-medical-workforce/health-service/
- Helping you manage your own health and wellbeing whilst looking after others: https://people.nhs.uk/
- A health and wellbeing guide has been developed by NHS England to support teams to improve their health and wellbeing through a culture-change approach. This guide is designed to empower and enable teams to come together to shape their health and wellbeing journey, building on the NHS Health and Wellbeing Framework
- Available now via the Knowledge and Library Services website is a selection of uplifting, digital resources which include apps, podcasts and other online resources. The Health Education England national NHS Knowledge and Library Services team has worked with the Reading Agency to crowd-source these resources. They have been chosen by NHS staff for NHS staff and are ideal for boosting your mood.
- Confidential staff support line, operated by the Samaritans and free to access from 7:00am – 11:00pm, seven days a week. Call: 0800 069 6222 or Text: FRONTLINE to 85258 for support 24/7 via text
- Mental Health Toolkit for GPs. https://www.rcgp.org.uk/clinical-and-research/resources/toolkits/mental-health-toolkit.aspx
- 10 Top Tips for Financial Wellbeing from the Cameron Fund
Support for Practice Nurses
- The Queens Nursing Institute have plenty of resources available here: https://qni.org.uk/resources/
- A health and wellbeing guide has been developed by NHS England to support teams to improve their health and wellbeing through a culture-change approach. This guide is designed to empower and enable teams to come together to shape their health and wellbeing journey, building on the NHS Health and Wellbeing Framework
- Helping you manage your own health and wellbeing whilst looking after others: https://people.nhs.uk/
- Available now via the Knowledge and Library Services website is a selection of uplifting, digital resources which include apps, podcasts and other online resources. The Health Education England national NHS Knowledge and Library Services team has worked with the Reading Agency to crowd-source these resources. They have been chosen by NHS staff for NHS staff and are ideal for boosting your mood.
- A confidential staff support line, operated by the Samaritans and free to access from 7:00am – 11:00pm, seven days a week. Call: 0800 069 6222 or Text: FRONTLINE to 85258 for support 24/7 via text
Support for Practice Managers
- Training for line managers to support you in having safe and effective wellbeing conversations.
- Conflict resolution training to support you in managing challenging behaviour www.e-lfh.org.uk
- The NHS England commissioned service ‘Practitioner Health’ details what is available for PRACTICE MANAGERS as well as GPs: https://www.practitionerhealth.nhs.uk/
- A new health and wellbeing guide has been developed by NHS England to support teams to improve their health and wellbeing through a culture-change approach. This guide is designed to empower and enable teams to come together to shape their health and wellbeing journey, building on the NHS Health and Wellbeing Framework
- Wessex LMCs are running regular webinars (details here). Our Directors of Primary Care will be giving an update to our PMs and will be answering questions. It will be a chance for PMs to share good practice and vent frustration! For those unable to join us live, we will have an audio podcast available for anyone to listen to after the event (accessed here)
- Our Practice Manager Supporters, who are working as PMs right now, are brilliantly placed to sympathetically understand exactly what you are going through and what pressure you are under. Do contact them via our webpage
- Space to Thrive for PMs. Would you like:
- head space?
- space in your day to think?
- a safe space to share and discuss?
- space to develop, thrive and flourish?
Then join a space to thrive!
Trauma Support
For anyone in psychological distress, please see these resources March On Stress
And finally…..
The Wessex LMCs team is here to support you – do not hesitate to contact one of our Directors via office@wessexlmcs.org.uk if we can help in any way.