Primary care services - mental health and wellbeing: resources

1 Learning and Development Opportunities for Staff

1.1 Introduction

This section contains information on learning, development and training opportunities for staff working in a Mental Health and Wellbeing in Primary Care Service.

You can work through the resource on your own, reading the different sections and following the links which are of interest to you and relevant for the people you are working with.

1.2 Trauma training

Abuse, neglect, violence and other traumatic and adverse experiences, particularly those experienced in childhood, are more common than was previously recognised, and can have devastating and long lasting effects on people’s lives. Without the right support, trauma can result in poorer physical and mental health, poorer educational, employment, and justice outcomes and in some cases, disconnection from society and services. However, people are resilient and most will recover, with the right support in place.

What helps people to cope with and recover from such experiences includes having safe and supportive connections with others, and trauma-informed care. Every interaction made with someone affected by trauma is an opportunity to support their recovery.

The National Trauma Training Programme was established in 2018 to support a trauma-informed workforce and services across Scotland, led by NHS Education for Scotland (NES). The key components of the National Trauma Training Programme are:

• A Knowledge and Skills Framework detailing the specific knowledge and skills members of the workforce need, in line with their role and responsibilities, to understand and respond to people affected by trauma. The Framework is available here.
• Transforming Psychological Trauma Training Plan detailing how to identify high-quality training that will meet the needs set out in the above Knowledge and Skills Framework. The Training Plan is available here.
• Online trauma training resources to help increase awareness, knowledge, confidence and capability among all sectors of the workforce. An overview of these NES resources is available here, along with two animations designed to raise awareness of trauma and trauma-informed practice, including those working alongside children and young people.
• A network of transforming psychological trauma implementation co-ordinators, based in each health board, are providing their local areas with advice, support for training, and making connections with what is already happening on the ground locally. For details of your local co-ordinator, email: psychology@nes.scot.nhs.uk.

1.3 Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing professional learning resource

The Scottish Government commissioned Mental Health Foundation Scotland, Digital Bricks Learning and Children’s Health Scotland to develop a mental health professional learning resource, supported by the Mental Health in Schools Working Group. The resource is for all school staff to support the wellbeing of children and young people. Although aimed at school staff, it is open access and available to anyone who may find it of benefit.

The resource takes a whole-school approach, centred around prevention and early intervention to promote positive mental health and wellbeing for everyone in the school community. It aims to provide school staff with knowledge and understanding of mental health and wellbeing in schools, and a range of opportunities to learn about experiences and advice from practitioners and young people.

1.4 Domestic Abuse Awareness Raising Tool

This online training resource on domestic abuse is a learning resource for professionals. It’s an awareness-raising resource and serves as an introduction to domestic abuse and coercive control. The tool provides an overview of the main considerations when responding to domestic abuse; however, it does not replace specialist domestic abuse training. A map to local support services is available at the end.

1.5 Sensory e-learning modules

In order to access the learning, you will need to create an account or log into NHS Education for Scotland TURAS and search for ‘sight loss’, ‘hearing loss’, ‘deafblind’ and ‘BSL and Tactile BSL’.

1.6 Suicide prevention learning resources

NHS Education for Scotland (NES) and Public Health Scotland (PHS) have a comprehensive suite of learning resources on suicide prevention. A briefing paper attached at Appendix 3 provides descriptions of those resources and the relevant links.

1.7 ICD-11 Guidelines for Mental, Behavioural and Neurodevelopmental Disorders

The Training Course on ICD-11 Guidelines for Mental, Behavioural and Neurodevelopmental Disorders is a series of 15 online training units developed by the WHO Collaborating Centre at Columbia University, in collaboration with WHO Department of Mental Health and Substance Use. Each unit is designed to take approximately one to one-and-a-half hours and focuses on a different disorder grouping.

The training modules are currently in a pilot phase and available only to Global Clinical Practice Network Members. Professionals providing mental health services can sign up to the GCPN to gain access to the training and other research initiatives. Information on registering for the GCPN and ICD 11 training modules can be found at Global Clinical Practice Network – Welcome (gcp.network)

The Scottish Government is working with the WHO and NES to develop Scotland-specific training on ICD 11 MBND, as well as an awareness-raising animation for practitioners and the general public distilling the key changes.

1.8 Health Education England Tackling Loneliness and Social Isolation

Interest in the HEE Tackling Loneliness and Social Isolation Programme continues to gather pace, with more than 1,000 session launches recorded since June.

In addition, a recent survey showed that 90 per cent of those who had accessed the training agreed the programme had helped them to feel confident in tackling loneliness and social isolation.

This free course, which was developed in collaboration with elfh (e-learning for healthcare), Public Health England and the Campaign to End Loneliness, highlights how health and social care staff and the wider public health workforce can recognise risk factors, risk groups, and apply simple interventions that will make a positive impact.

Want to understand more about this topic? Watch HEE’s Loneliness and Social Isolation webinar. Chaired by Deputy Medical Director, Professor Simon Gregory, speakers include:

• Chris Sharp, Workforce Development Lead at North East and Yorkshire, Public Health England
• Dr Kalpa Kharicha, Head of Research, Policy and Practice, at Campaign to End Loneliness
• Gay Palmer, Social Prescribing Link Worker, at Southwark GP Federation and Trustee of National Academy of Social Prescribing.

Learn about the broader impact and stigma associated with loneliness and social isolation. You can also read this blog from Libby Potter, Head of Portfolio for Prevention at HEE.