Mental Health First Aid Policy

Lancaster City Council is committed to working towards the organisation becoming a more supportive and inclusive place to work.

Together with our wellbeing strategy, the purpose of this Mental Health First Aid policy is to confirm our approach to, commitment to, and support of MHFAiders in the workplace. This policy is applicable to all colleagues at Lancaster City Council.

General Definitions

Mental Health First Aid is the help and support offered to someone developing a mental health ill health problem, experiencing a worsening of an existing mental health illness, or a mental health crisis. The first aid support is given until appropriate professional help is received, or the crisis resolves.

An MHFAider is a person who has been formally accredited to administer mental health first aid in the workplace, by attending and passing an assessment in a Mental Health First Aid course that has been delivered by an MHFA England Accredited, Mental Health First Aid Instructor.

MHFA England is a social enterprise, who offer expert guidance and training to support mental health in the workplace and beyond. Through their training and campaigning, they equip people with the skills they need to support their own and others’ wellbeing. Their courses empower people to notice signs of mental ill health, and encourage them to break down barriers, listen in a non-judgemental way, and signpost to support for recovery.

Responsibilities

Organisation

To be committed to the training of (and support of) a Mental Health First Aid network.

To ensure all MHFAider training is coordinated by (or in partnership with) the Staff Wellbeing & Inclusion Group, facilitating the delivery with Lancashire Mind and with MHFA England accredited trainers, and considering other accredited and approved trainers where required.

To discuss any Mental Health First Aid training requirements with the Staff Wellbeing & Inclusion Group as required.

To support MHFAiders to undertake the training, plus additional training as required to enable them to feel more comfortable and confident within their role.

To commit the funding needed for refresher training every two years.

To support the work of the Staff Wellbeing & Inclusion Group, and specifically the Mental Health First Aid Network, in campaigns and initiatives to ensure colleagues are aware of (and have access to) MHFAiders at all times.

To support MHFAiders by ensuring they don’t exceed providing help which is outside the scope of mental health first aid, and they know what to do if such help is needed and/or requested.

To provide supportive, safe, and inclusive spaces (both virtually and in our buildings) to enable colleagues to have conversations with an MHFAider.

To advise the MHFAider network of any activities, events, training, or other significant changes which may enable the MHFAiders to provide support to colleagues.

To ensure that services have a reasonable number of Mental Health First Aiders to ensure we provide a supportive workspace for colleagues and for those they are interacting with.

To ensure that Mental Health First Aid at Lancaster City Council is accessible to all, whether colleagues are accessing it because they need support for themselves or others.

MHFAiders

To hold a current Mental Health First Aid certificate accredited by MHFA England and be available for additional training and other learning opportunities as required.

To maintain their Mental Health First Aider accreditation with MHFA England by attending a refresher course every two years.

To be able to make space in their day to support someone if required, or to signpost colleagues to another MHFAider if they are not available or need to prioritise their own wellbeing.

To be prepared to provide mental health first aid withing their working space as needed at their level of competence and training.

To be able to maintain confidentiality as appropriate, whilst escalating and documenting any matters if required, in line with the training.

To be a member of the Lancaster City Council Mental Health First Aid Microsoft Teams Space, coordinated by the Staff Wellbeing & Inclusion Group.

To regularly note themes and time spent on support via the Mental Health First Check in form within the Mental Health First Aid network space.

To attend the monthly Mental Health First Aid Network meets. Whilst appreciating this may not always be possible, MHFAiders are asked to commit to attending at least 5 sessions per year or to work with the Staff Wellbeing & Inclusion Group to make other arrangements to ensure they are connected to the space.

To make use of the MHFA England support application where appropriate, accessing their free learning opportunities and resources to help keep knowledge current and supportive.

To support the Staff Wellbeing & Inclusion Group (and wider staff networks where appropriate) on campaigns and initiatives to help our work towards becoming a more supporting and inclusive place to work.

To make the Staff Wellbeing & Inclusion Group aware as soon as possible if they feel unable to continue with their role, due to their own wellbeing, work commitments or for any other reason, so that we can provide them with appropriate support.

Confidentiality

Lancaster City Council recognises that respecting the privacy and confidentiality of all issues connected to and raised in relation to mental health for both MHFAiders, those seeking help and support from MFHAiders, and other colleagues suffering from mental ill health at work is very important and essential to the Mental Health First Aid Policy being successful and colleagues feeling able to raise issues relating to mental health within the workplace.

All MHFAiders are obligated to treat all matters sensitively and privately, and to be aware that breaches of confidentiality may cause a mental health issue to become worse for the sufferer.

If at any time an MHFAider assesses there is a risk of harm to themselves or others, in line with the training provided, they must escalate the matter, making the individual aware, and contacting the relevant services.

If there is an immediate risk, emergency services should be contacted immediately.

MHFAiders making use of the MHFA England Support app should not use this app to note any identifiable information. Please refer to our data protection policies.

Scheme Operation

The Staff Wellbeing & Inclusion Group will:

Support our Mental Health First Aid Network and provided resources where appropriate.

Coordinate and facilitate our Mental Health First Aid Network meetings.

Maintain a system for MHFAiders to feed in themes from conversations, and to identify further learning opportunities, or campaigns & initiatives to help address them.

Continually review the time noted where MHFAiders are using their training, to ensure we have enough MHFAiders.

Coordinate Mental Health First Aid training and the refreshing training of MHFAiders.

Ensure the training of MHFAiders is inclusive and accessible, through a fair application process in line with MHFA guidance.

Identify and coordinate further learning opportunities, working with Learning & Development colleagues where appropriate.

Ensure that the Mental Health First Aid Network are connected to both local and national support organisations, campaigns, and activities.

Consistently and creatively continue to promote the support MHFAiders can offer.

Ensure that our Mental Health First Aid intranet page on the Staff Wellbeing & Inclusion intranet site is maintained to ensure colleagues have knowledge of who are MHFAiders are and how to contact them.

Ensure ensure colleagues are aware of the role of MHFAiders and their boundaries.

Keep in contact with MHFA England to ensure our policies, procedures, and support offered, are in line with the more recent guidance.

Commit to a yearly review of the Mental Health First Support offer by engaging with all MHFAiders, to gather their thoughts, feelings and ideas on the support offer provided.

Use the yearly Wellbeing & Inclusion Pulse survey to seek further thoughts, feelings and ideas on the Mental Health First Aid support offer to capture any opportunities for improvements.

Support

MHFA England resources: Resources · MHFA England

MHFA England resources for workplaces: · MHFA England

MHFA England Guide to the role of an MHFAider Being an MHFAider - Your guide to the role - June 2023.pdf (windows.net)

Orange Button Scheme: Orange Button Scheme

MHFA England Line Manager Guidance: Line Managers Resource Screen.pdf (windows.net)

Staff Wellbeing & Inclusion Group Intranet Site for Mental Health Your Mental Wellbeing (sharepoint.com)

MHFAiders Mental Health First Aiders (sharepoint.com)

Review

The Mental Health First Aid Policy will be reviewed 3 years after implementation in line with MHFAider refresher training, or earlier in the event of changes to MHFA England guidance.

Version No.	Effective Date.	Reason.	Review Date.
1.0	01.09.2023	New policy.	01.04.2026.