Reflective debrief and the social space: offload, refuel, and stay on course

Abstract

Relentless workloads are birthing unprecedented levels of burnout, mental ill health, substance misuse, and suicide amongst clinical staff working in the NHS. The consequent epidemic of sickness absence, early retirement, and poor staff retention means the workforce gap is widening at an alarming rate within the caring professions. The clarion call rings out loud, clear, and with urgency for organisational engagement in preventative measures to invest in its human capital. Interventions for increasing clinician wellbeing and resilience must encompass strategies at the personal level, at peer groups and teams, right through to the level of the culture and practices - the "operating system" - of the whole organisation. In hospitals across the nation, where the pervading environment is one of "lack" - time, space, thanks, morale - significant casualties are a sense of "community at work" and sanctioned time for reflective practice. Relaxed, reflective group debrief cultivates relational connection, enables off-loading of the burdens associated with caring and guides reflective "work on work". Clinicians attending reflective groups appreciate the opportunity for a "space to breathe", for self-reflection, mindfulness, and self-care, whilst gaining professional robustness and a sense of value and team. Could the low-cost model of monthly, facilitated "clinician wellbeing and debrief" gatherings and the provision of "pop-up" departmental café spaces, as pioneered in Cambridge, UK, significantly enrich our healthcare system's culture of "lack"?