health

The House magazine and the Staff Room newsletter present: The House Staffer Network series

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Building on the success of last year’s packed The House magazine Staffer Reception and the launch of The Staff Room newsletter now with over 700 subscribers, we’re excited to expand our support for parliamentary staff with The House Staffer Network series.

Hosted in Parliament, these in-person workshops are designed to help you sharpen your skills, tackle real workplace challenges, and connect with peers from across the political spectrum. Whether you’re new to Westminster or looking to make a greater impact in your role, this is your space to learn, share, and grow.

The first workshop you can sign up to attend is: HEALTH AND WELLBEING IN THE WORKPLACE

Tuesday, 1 July 2025 | 19:15 – 21:00 | Attlee Suite, Portcullis House

In this workshop, we’ll cover:

  • Practical wellbeing tips for maintaining balance in your busy role
  • Strategies for supporting colleagues and fostering a healthy work environment
  • Tools to enhance your personal and team wellbeing

Sign up here

All workshops will include an informal reception, offering a chance to network with other staffers and discuss shared challenges and experiences.

If you would prefer to RSVP via email or if you have any questions about the event, please do not hesitate to contact us here.

And if you haven’t already, don’t miss out – sign up to the Staff Room newsletter from The House today.

Avoid health misinformation: Improving constituents’ health literacy

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Good Information Toolkit Talk from the House of Commons Library

How does health literacy impact constituents and the NHS? Join us for an essential session focused on improving health literacy, where we will ask:

What is health literacy?

  • Understand the fundamentals and why it’s important for effective communication in our communities.
    Why does it matter to the NHS and your constituents?
  • Discover how improved health literacy can lead to better patient outcomes, reduce health inequalities, and help you support your constituents.
  • How can we empower constituents to understand information about their health
  • Explore how we can improve understanding in written and verbal information. We’ll also step into the shoes of patients who don’t understand what they’re being told about their health, and think about how we can communicate with empathy.

If you’re working in a constituency, this session can help you engage with communities about their health and support informed decision-making.

Time: 14:00
Date: 20 May 2025
Location: Online
Further information and registration: https://parliament.learningpool.com/mod/facetoface/view.php?id=7476

Members’ staff Networking Event for Mental Health Awareness Week

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Time: 14:00 – 16:00
Date: Tuesday 13 May 2025
Location: Jubilee Room

Parliament is proud to support Mental Health Awareness Week (MHAW), running from Monday 12th – Sunday 18th May 2025.This year’s theme, set by the Mental Health Foundation, is “Community” and the campaign is an opportunity to raise awareness and support good mental health for all.

As part of a wider programme of events taking place throughout MHAW, the Members and Members’ staff Services Team (MMSST)invites all Members’ staff to join us for two events: an in-person networking event on Tuesday 13 May, drop in between 2 – 4 pm in the Jubilee Room, Palace of Westminster. Light refreshments will be provided.

And a virtual Teams event Thursday 15 May, drop in between 1-2 pm. Bring your own tea/coffee and biscuits or a cheeky slice of cake.  

These events are an opportunity for you to connect with fellow Members’ staff and meet colleagues from the services that are here to support you. 

To register please email MMSST@parliament.uk

Mental Health Awareness Week 2025 in Parliament

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Parliament is proud to support Mental Health Awareness Week (MHAW), running from 12 – 18 May 2025. MHAW is an opportunity to raise awareness of mental health and share ways to support good mental health for all.  This year, the theme for MHAW set by the Mental Health Foundation is Community.

There is something for everyone this Mental Health Awareness Week, with events and resources open to Members and Members’ staff taking place throughout the week. Join us to celebrate the power and importance of community in supporting mental health this MHAW.

What’s On

  • Attend a special programme of talks, training workshops and networking sessions
  • Visit the MHAW stall in Portcullis House on 13 May
  • Networking events for Members’ staff in-person (13 May) and online (15 May)
  • Explore a collection of on-demand resources including pre-recorded webinars, interactive notice boards, and information about health and wellbeing services available to you.

The programme of events and training courses taking place throughout Mental Health Awareness Week is available to book here on ACT. 

Find out more and stay up to date on Parlinet: ParliNet | Mental Health Awareness Week 2025

Practical recommendations for supporting staff in a political office

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By Jennifer Lees-Marshment
Professor of Political Management and Marketing at The University of Dundee

Wednesday April 2nd at 2pm

This workshop will present practical recommendations for supporting staff in political offices. These were created by interviewing political advisors who worked for Prime Ministers, Ministers and MPs in the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand about what they had found worked best within the realities of politics and government.

Participants will also get the opportunity to reflect on which recommendations they might consider implementing, and to share any additional practices they have found useful.

This will be of interest to existing and prospective staffers and special advisers, and those already support and manage colleagues, teams or offices or aspire to in the future.

Brief author intro
Jennifer Lees-Marshment is Professor of Political Marketing and Management at The University of Dundee and interviewed over 65 advisors who worked for Prime Ministers, Ministers and MPs in the UK, New Zealand, Australia and Canada to identify over 50 best practice recommendations for improving the support and management of political staffers.

To receive the Teams link to this session, please email mpsstaff-wwg@parliament.uk

LAST CHANCE TO RESPOND: MPs’ Staff Survey of Well-being 2024-2025

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The Wellness Working Group is excited to once again share with you the now Annual WWG Survey of Staff working for Members of Parliament

You may remember that the Wellness Working Group undertakes this important anonymous survey of MPs staff to better understand the pressures and effects that our jobs have on our wellbeing. We are delighted that Dr Weinberg from Salford University has agreed to run the survey again for us this year.

The survey is completely anonymous and a chance to be able to help us enact change and to help us all obtain better work places and practices. It should only take about 15 minutes to complete.

Please address any queries you may have to the lead researcher Dr Ashley Weinberg, who is an Occupational Psychologist at the University of Salford: a.weinberg@salford.ac.uk

Men’s Health Awareness stall

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10:30 – 15:30 on Tuesday 26 November 2024

To mark Men’s Health Awareness Month, the Parliamentary Health and Wellbeing Service (PHWS) and Parligender have partnered together with Andy’s Man Club and Prostate Cancer UK.

Andy’s Man Club are a charity who raise awareness for men’s mental health by facilitating groups all across the UK and Prostate Cancer UK are one of the UK’s most well-known charities who raise awareness for Prostate Cancer. 

Visit the stall in Portcullis House between 10:30am – 3:30pm to meet representatives of Andy’s Man Club and Prostate Cancer UK along with PHWS staff. 

There will also be a Men’s Health Awareness workshop at 1pm. 

For further information please visit this page on Parlinet: https://parlinet.parliament.uk/events/2024/november/mens-health-awareness-stall/

The Benefits of Group Supervision for MP’s Staff

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Virtual meeting from the Wellness Working Group

Speaker: Sue Hampson
Time: 11:00 – 12:00
Date: Thursday 7th November 2024

Sue has been a practising counsellor, supervisor and trainer for over 20 years. She was the Beyond Trauma National Training Officer at Health in Mind from 2004 – 2006.

Group Supervision will enable staff to safely and confidently respond to and work with disclosures of traumatic experiences by constituents. It helps to build staff capacity and the quality of response that we as MPs staff are able to offer, as well as providing us with a safe space in which to talk about the impact of those disclosures on ourselves.

The cost of Group Supervision is claimable through the Wellbeing Budget (part of the Staffing Budget) that IPSA provides to MP’s Offices.

To receive a link to this session, please email mpsstaff-wwg@parliament.uk

Wellness Working Group Survey

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An update from the Director of Members’ Staff Engagement

The Director of Members’ Staff Engagement has provided an update on progress made against the recommendations in the report, which you can find on the intranet here: https://parlinet.parliament.uk/information-resources/news-newsletters-notices/news/2024/september/an-update-from-jo-willows-on-the-wellness-working-group-survey-for-members-staff/

There is also an update on the Speaker’s Conference report on the employment conditions of Members’ staff.

Concerns relating to Health Assured

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The BBC has reported claims that corporate clients of Health Assured, the provider of the staff Employee Assistance Programme, listened in to confidential helpline calls without the knowledge or permission of callers. You can read the House response to this on ParliNet, with contact details for those who need further advice or guidance.