ORCID

Abstract

Kathryn Marie BamforthTitle: The WELLBEING Study: Exploring Healthcare Professionals (HCPs) Psychological Wellbeing at Work and Patients’ Experiences of CareBackground: HCPs’ psychological wellbeing affects patients’ experiences of care. The COVID-19 pandemic, cost of living and workforce crises have taken their toll on HCP wellbeing. There is scant evidence on HCPs’ perceptions of psychological wellbeing at work or how they could be better supported. There is less research that considers patients’ perspectives.Aim: To explore HCPs’ and patients’ perceptions of staff psychological wellbeing at work and use the first four stages of experience-based co-design (EBCD) to identify models of practice to support HCP psychological wellbeing.Methods: The empirical research was informed by a scoping review. EBCD methods were used to gather experiential narrative data via semi-structured interviews (HCP: n=13, patients: n=6). Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis to identify touchpoints which were edited into a Catalyst film and shown at co-design events for HCPs (n=6) and patients (n=4). Following wider dissemination with the ward staff and discussion, recommendations to support staff psychological wellbeing at work were agreed. Findings: The scoping review highlighted a deficits-based view of wellbeing and the complex relationship between organisational culture, HCPs’ perceptions of psychological wellbeing at work and patients’ experiences of care. A conceptual model was developed and revised from the themes from the interviews, co-design groups and further discussion with the senior ward staff. Most of the interview data focussed on the negative experiences of staff. Patients responded by minimising their requests for help, putting their own health at risk. The recommendations focussed on improving teamwork, clearer discharge information for patients, better access to work and improving communication with the wider hospital. Following discussion with the ward staff, the findings were disseminated to the Senior staff across the organisation and have been presented at regional and national conferences.Conclusion: The Catalyst film had an immediate impact on the ward staff: improving teamwork, communication and leadership behaviour. The ward developed a “Who’s Who” poster for clearer communication for patients, which was adopted by the organisation. Wider operational pressures within the organisation made it difficult to progress the system-level recommendations. This study suggests that stressful working conditions have been normalised and do not promote the teamwork and nurturing culture necessary for HCP wellbeing. There is, therefore, a need for healthcare organisations to address the urgent need to prioritise HCP wellbeing, which is fundamental to person-centred care. The WELLBEING Study has highlighted that developing an assets-based approach to wellbeing measurement and using co-design methods to identify meaningful and relevant models of practice can offer tangible solutions to improving HCPs psychological wellbeing at work.

Awarding Institution(s)

University of Plymouth

Award Sponsors

Torbay Medical Research Fund

Supervisor

Susie Pearce, Helen Lloyd, Bridie Kent

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Date

2025

Embargo Period

2025-10-07

Deposit Date

October 2025

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

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