The health and wellbeing of our front line staff has never been more important but with the new Covid-19 restrictions it was time to get creative.
At Velindre Cancer Centre we have a dedicated team of radiographers that annually generate events for staff health and wellbeing. It was Happiness in Work week from 21-25 September and we decided to utilise the full week with a variety of fun, socially distanced activities.
We already had a health and wellbeing staff library which staff are able to use and borrow books. Additionally we have a mindfulness corner where staff can relax with mindfulness activities including sketch pads and mindfulness magazines. We provide multiple resources on healthy eating, trouble sleeping and financial aid for all staff to access.
During the week we utilised the resources of the Global Online Happiness Summit 2020 which offered various ways that all staff could access a wide range of leading-edge happiness at work approaches and change methodologies. We also made it possible for people to access seminars on topics such as happiness at work and happy leadership.
The team launched an electronic appreciation/positive feedback box which was then collated into an email and sent to all staff, and we created quizzes on happiness which each team could submit and be eligible to win a prize.
Lastly, we sporadically placed a selection of prizes around the department that people were able to keep upon finding. We labelled these prizes ‘random acts of kindness’ and created the hashtag #VCCHappiness@Work for staff to share photos of the week and its success.
Prize-winning therapeutic radiographers. Pictured: (L-R) Back: Jason Griffiths, Nicola Owen, Lauren Goody. Front: Mary Simmonds, Sherryl Jenkins
Lucy Davies, Treatment Radiographer, Velindre Cancer Centre, Cardiff