St George's Blue Light Champions host Mental Health and Wellbeing Conference

Published: 10 August 2021

 St George’s Blue Light Champions hosted their annual Emergency Services Mental Health and Wellbeing Conference on 23 June which received royal recognition from His Royal Highness, The Duke of Cambridge. The Blue Light Champions initiative is run by final year Paramedic Science students at St George’s in collaboration with the mental health charity MIND. 

The theme of this year’s conference was ‘Masked Pressures’ with the psychological challenges that have arisen for emergency service personnel during the Covid-19 pandemic discussed and explored. A number of guest speakers shared their experiences at the online event. These speakers ranged from Assistant Director for Inclusion, Culture and Wellbeing at the Welsh Ambulance Service, Dr Catherine Goodwin, to Associate Professor in the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Jenifer Wilde, to Police Blue Light Champion Lead, Phil Spencer.

Phil Spencer said of the conference, "It's more important now than ever that the emergency services work together to look after our mental health. We do this job looking after other people - we don't always look after ourselves. The conference has been a fantastic opportunity for Blue Light Champions to come together and highlight how to identify signs of burnout, trauma and compassion fatigue and ideas for shared best practice across all emergency services settings." 

This year’s conference was also supported by the The Ambulance Staff Charity, and The Royal Foundation. The latter is the primary philanthropic and charitable vehicle for The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, with the Duke of Cambridge, Prince William, penning a letter endorsing the conference and what it represents. You can read the letter in full here. 

HRH Prince William writes, “You have chosen careers that will bring you great personal reward, but I know through my conversations with emergency responders around the country, and my own experiences, that there will be periods where your mental health will be severely tested. And that sadly a stigma prevails around mental health in your sector preventing those who feel they should be ‘caregivers’ from seeking help for themselves. 

“The Blue Light Champion initiatives exist to help to tackle this stigma and change the conversation around mental health. It is vital that all necessary steps are taken to safeguard your wellbeing and mental health throughout your careers, and your Champions are doing fantastic work on this front —having vital conversations, signposting to information and resources, and delivering training to empower emergency responders to support their colleagues whilst reflecting upon their own mental health.” 

“Real shining lights” 

Many St George’s staff and students also participated in the conference, including Dean for the Faculty of Health Social Care and Education, Professor Andy Kent, and Head of the Centre for Allied Health, Professor Iain Beith. Among those in attendance were Dean for Students, Aileen O’Brien, and Paramedic Science Course Director, and Pastoral Lead Katie Pavoni. 

Reflecting on the conference, Katie said, “This year’s conference was a fantastic event, attended by emergency services personnel, leading third sector organisations and professional bodies, along with academics, wider health and social care professionals and undergraduate students. We are so very proud of our students and the work they have put in to organise such a successful event. It is so important that we support our students to recognise the importance of their own mental health and that of their peers, loved ones and patients, both as human being and as the paramedics of the future.” 

Dean for Students, Aileen O’Brien, added, “The paramedic team, led by Katie, are real shining lights when it comes to our welfare support for students.”