Royal Veterinary College awarded for commitment to vet wellbeing

The Beaumont Sainsbury Animal Hospital (BSAH), part of the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) was commended for the measures it has in place to ensure the wellbeing of its 44 staff members. The teaching hospital, which sees around 15,000 consultations per year, has invested in mental health first aid training and subsequent creation of wellbeing champions and made sure the induction process for students on rotations include information on looking after their mental health. It also created a social calendar of events to bring the whole hospital team together and introduced a daily morning brief for the whole team which allows for any potential “pinch-points” in the day to be identified and addressed early on. On top of this, as part of the RVC, all staff have access to benefits such as counselling services, regular CPD courses, private health insurance, discounts at certain retailers, a financial advice service, a child care voucher scheme and travel schemes such as a seasonal ticket loan and cycle to work. Anne Richings, hospital director at BSAH, said: “I am absolutely delighted that the BSAH has won this award. It is a reflection of the fantastic and compassionate team that we have at the hospital, who all contributed to the application process, which was led by our head vet, head nurse and a lecturer in our exotics team. “Leadership in wellbeing is important and the whole team need to be engaged in caring for their own mental health as well as looking out for their colleagues. The RVC provides a great deal of opportunities for career development and employee benefits. Ultimately, it’s the combination of organisational opportunities and the team culture that has the greatest impact and offers the greatest environment for all.” Paul Pollard, head vet at BSAH, added: “Our whole hospital team are very proud and delighted to receive this award. Wellness is something that is very important to us and is one of our core values within the hospital. We do lots of training to be able to look after our patients and clients to the best of our ability. We feel that it is equally important to be able to look after ourselves and each other. “Being a teaching hospital also gives us a unique opportunity to role model and share these values with the vets of the future.” The team at BSAH is made up of 11 vets, 15 nurses, five nursing assistants, 10 receptionists and three administrators.