Paulette’s Story

Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

My name is Paulette Eckersley, I am a Regional Executive Assistant for Joint Ventures North. I commenced in my role in February 2021, after working in the NHS for 10 years. I work across two facilities, The Wilmslow Hospital & The Christie Private Care. Within my role, I support the Executive Team, which involves extensive diary management, arranging travel, minuting meetings, complex inbox management and general organisation and planning of events.

Earlier this year I saw that HCA UK had partnered with Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) England. As well as providing our managers with mental health and wellbeing training, HCA UK also secured funding for colleagues to become Mental Health First Aiders. When I saw this, I knew straight away I wanted to be involved.

Why was becoming a Mental Health First Aider (MHFA) important to you?

I’ve had personal experiences of dealing with difficult physical, emotional and mental situations in the past and it has always been part of me, and who I am, to help others in need. I tend to gravitate to those who display vulnerability and are susceptible to having or forming a mental illness.

I am passionate about supporting and affording my time to people who need it the most. To further support my MHFA application, and in my own time, I undertook a Level 2 in Counselling. This was mainly to prepare and equip myself with the most appropriate tools and knowledge when assisting others.

Can you tell us a bit more about the training and what was involved?

The training itself was over a period of two days. The training environment was ‘buzzing’ with personal experiences, teamwork and camaraderie – after all we were all there to learn more about the differing forms of mental health and the effect they have on a person. Sharing personal experiences was of course voluntary – but in some respects was crucial in forming a collaborative team.

The training was expertly delivered by a highly experienced MHFA trainer. The training material was broad, some topics were emotive and created some honest and subjective discussions, some topics were highly thought-provoking. I personally learned so much, particularly around different phobias, varying forms of anxiety and Schizophrenia, which can be highly debilitating to those with a diagnosis. Now I have undergone the training, I feel more confident and better equipped to assist colleagues in need, as I now have a broadened knowledge of this subject matter.

Why do I feel it is important for HCA UK to offer mental health first aid training?

There is evidence to show that supporting colleagues during times of need has a positive effect on staff morale, retention, recruitment, punctuality, attendance, performance and career progression.  If you invest in your employees, they will invest in you. I truly believe that HCA UK as a whole will benefit from supporting and raising awareness of mental health illness within the workplace.  I am an absolute ambassador for HCA UK and this is simply just one of the many reasons why! They invest in their employees’ health and wellbeing.

I am proud to have been successful in becoming a MHFA and for being given the opportunity to be part of this worthy and very much welcomed initiative.