Provider deepens commitment to its staff’s mental health at work

HOMECARE provider Walfinch is deepening its support for the mental health and wellbeing of its franchisees, carers and clients.

Walfinch chief executive Amrit Dhaliwal said: “My experience in homecare means I am aware of the importance of supporting the mental health and wellbeing of our carers, franchisees and clients.

Amanda Holgate has been appointed to Anchor’s Board having completed a successful introductory period as chief financial officer. Amanda has worked in the housing sector for more than eight years, with recent roles including CFO at Southern Housing Group, deputy finance director at Family Mosaic and director, finance services at Peabody. Prior to entering the housing sector she gained more than 20 years’ financial and commercial experience in a range of sectors including financial services, technology and retail asset management. The Board accepted the resignation of non-executive director Rachael Dennis for personal reasons in March.

“I vowed when I started my homecare franchise, that I would take as much action as I could to promote mental health and wellbeing – not just by paying lip-service to the idea, but by taking practical measures.”

Walfinch commitments, announced to coincide with the recent Mental Health Awareness Week, include: n Training more mental health first aiders. n Consulting care teams. Walfinch carers will be surveyed about how they feel about their jobs and whether their workplace wellbeing can be improved. n Seeking customer feedback.

Walfinch clients are already asked regularly how they feel about their care but we are adding a more formalised process to record and action the results. This will provide data to prove the link between carer and client wellbeing and to identify areas where action, such as more training or new policies, could improve mental health. n Listening to franchisees. Walfinch has recently established a Franchisee Advisory Council, where franchisees can raise issues with the franchisor, to boost franchisee support. n Promoting the value of the franchisee network. n Encouraging the buddy system.

New staff, in particular, can worry about their job, so franchisees will be encouraged to twin them with a ‘buddy’, an established member of staff who they can turn to for support.

Amrit added: “I’m pleased at how we have worked to improve measures for the mental wellbeing of our franchisees and carers, but I am keen to ensure we maintain and deepen our support.

“Being complacent about mental health in the workplace is inhumane and unprofessional.”