Beginning Mental Health MDT Meetings with a Short Mindfulness Practice

Background: One of the major challenges facing the NHS is the need to improve workforce wellbeing and resilience. The NHS has been identified as having a higher-than-average level of stress related sickness absence in all job sectors across the country with 44% of staff reporting feeling unwell as the result of work related stress in 2020. Introducing a workplace mindfulness practice in a supportive work environment can help equip professionals to deal more skillfully with stressful events and improve their well-being and resilience.

Aims: The aim of this study was to practice starting weekly MDT (Multidisciplinary Team) meetings with a 3 minutes breathing space mindfulness exercise and to evaluate whether this had any impact on staff mental well-being and in improving their engagement as a team in a working environment.

Methods: Over 12 weeks; weekly MDT meetings started with a 3 minutes mindfulness breathing space exercise. Prior to commencing this, staff filled out anonymous surveys before and after the 12 weeks to evaluate the impact that this had on their mental wellbeing. Results: 90% of the team found the mindfulness exercises beneficial and 95% of the team would recommend this exercise to other teams. 84% of the team felt that this exercise improved their wellbeing and team togetherness. Conclusion: Practicing mindfulness at work as a team can help to foster a positive, compassionate and inclusive workplace environment and culture, to support psychological safety and mental wellbeing of healthcare workers.