Putting our health heroes first: World Mental Health Day 2025 

Access to services: mental health in catastrophes and emergencies

Today, 10 October 2025, marks World Mental Health Day. This year’s theme, ‘Access to Services: Mental Health in Catastrophes and Emergencies’, reminds us that support must be accessible when the world feels most unstable.

In times of crisis, headlines often heighten feelings of worry and helplessness. From political unrest and global conflicts to the climate emergency and economic uncertainty, we’re surrounded by distressing news. With smartphones and social media at our fingertips, the Mental Health Foundation points out that “doomscrolling” has become a natural yet harmful response to keeping up with the seemingly never ending, negative news.

But what about those who live these crises daily – our health and social care workers? What happens when they face emergencies at work and then face the same distressing headlines at home? The effect can be profound…
 

The scale of the problem: workforce mental health in the UK

Recent data paints a stark picture:

• 76% of NHS staff have experienced a mental health condition in the past year; 52% report anxiety and 51% low mood.
• The 2024 NHS Annual Staff Survey found 41.6% were unwell due to work-related stress.
• Mental ill health accounts for over 20% of sickness absence in the NHS.
• Among doctors, 55% report emotional exhaustion and up to 43% feel burned out.

These figures make one thing clear: staff mental health is not peripheral. It directly impacts retention, patient safety, and quality of care.
 

Doomscrolling and double exposure: why healthcare staff are uniquely vulnerable

We all recognise the emotional toll of relentless news consumption. But for those in health and social care, the impact is amplified. They face catastrophe and trauma firsthand in their professional roles and then relive it through their newsfeeds at home. This “double exposure” compounds stress and limits downtime.

Healthcare staff are not just consumers of bad news; they are often part of the story. That’s why protecting their mental health must go beyond wellbeing campaigns; it requires organisational systems that promote recovery, psychological safety, and lasting resilience.

This kind of resilience is shaped not only by a supportive workplace culture, but by active preparation. In times of catastrophe or crisis, courses like Threat Awareness for Healthcare Staff equip teams with the confidence, composure, and practical awareness to stay calm under pressure. When staff feel secure and capable, they’re better able to protect not only patients, but also their own mental health.
 

Even heroes need help: what meaningful support looks like

Being called a “hero” may feel uplifting, but praise is not a cure for burnout. In fact, the hero narrative can sometimes mask the deeper structural issues that drive the fatigue. True resilience isn’t just emotional endurance; it grows from feeling supported, valued, and heard. Data from the NHS Staff Survey shows that compassionate, supportive leadership can mitigate the effects of change, helping to protect morale, engagement, and wellbeing. During times of challenge, leaders must recognise that genuine transformation isn’t only about systems and structures – it’s about sustaining the people who deliver care every day.

For staff in healthcare, wellbeing depends on:

• Psychological safety – cultures where raising concerns is encouraged and acted on.
• Access to emotional support – counselling, peer networks, and occupational health services.
• Integrated mental health training – literacy and resilience embedded in learning and development.
• Visible, proactive leadership – managers who listen and take action.
• Rest and recovery – built-in breaks and decompression spaces during shifts.

Our Health Heroes: real people making real change

At Skills for Health, our annual Our Health Heroes Awards celebrate those who turn compassion into action and design sustainable support for colleagues. From winners who have created small, dedicated respite spaces for shift workers to wellbeing champions who have implemented mental health check-in programmes across community teams, Our Health Heroes spotlight practical ways to better support the mental health of care workers.

A few prominent examples from the past two awards include:

• Vedantee Shiebert – honoured for her lifelong dedication to mental health services. Vedantee has pioneered wellness programmes and therapeutic group work in child and adolescent care, while mentoring staff and improving recruitment and retention to build more stable, supported teams.
• Paul Fox – volunteer yoga instructor and coordinator of Yoga4Health and Yoga4NHS. Paul has helped over 800 NHS staff manage stress and prevent burnout through evidence-based yoga sessions. His CPD-accredited programme gives staff practical, low-cost tools to build resilience.
• Anthony (Tony) Westacott – Learning & Development Manager at Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust. Tony has championed apprenticeships, organisational values, and inclusive learning cultures that prioritise staff wellbeing and professional growth.

These initiatives show that small, consistent actions – be they mentoring or mindfulness – can make a tangible difference to morale, retention, and mental health across healthcare settings.
 

Action: what organisations can do now

To move from awareness to action, health and social care leaders can:

• Embed mental health check-ins in supervision and appraisal cycles.
• Provide tailored resilience, wellbeing, and threat awareness training for frontline staff.
• Create safe, confidential channels for raising concerns.
• Ensure rotas include protected time for rest and development, rather than expecting staff to complete training after long shifts.
• Recognise and reward contributions through peer-led initiatives and wellbeing incentives.
• Monitor key metrics – stress-related absence, turnover, presenteeism – and respond proactively.

From commitment to culture

Wellbeing can’t be a bolt-on initiative. It must be woven into the culture of care organisations. Policies are essential, but culture determines whether people feel safe enough to use them.

When healthcare staff feel seen, supported, and secure, they can continue to deliver compassionate, high-quality care – not despite the pressures, but because they are supported through them.

This World Mental Health Day, let’s commit not only to celebrating our Health Heroes but to building workplaces that care for them as they care for the public.
 

Supporting learning as part of wellbeing

At Skills for Health, we understand that wellbeing is linked to time, workload, and the accessibility of professional development. As providers of statutory and mandatory healthcare training, we design bite-sized, time-efficient eLearning, built around the realities of shift work and staff pressures.

From Mental Health Awareness to Threat Awareness, our courses are designed to build the confidence, preparedness, and emotional resilience healthcare staff need for whatever crisis, catastrophe, or headline they find themselves in.

By making essential learning achievable, we aim to reduce stress, support compliance, and free up valuable time for rest and recovery – all of which are vital to a healthier, more resilient workforce.
 
Mental Health Awareness eLearning