Additional wellbeing support for the Canberra Health Services workforce is now available, the ACT Government states: the first 17 Wellbeing Peer Support Officers have completed their training.

“These officers are trained to link their peers with important resources to support their wellbeing,” ACT health minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said. “This could be helping team members who are dealing with anxiety or stress, mental health distress or experiencing difficulties in their personal life or in the workplace.”

“[They] have done specific training to enable them to provide confidential, informal, and short-term assistance to colleagues experiencing difficulties in the workplace or at home.”

But Matthew Daniel, branch secretary of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) – ACT Branch, is sceptical.

“While staff undertaking the training are well intentioned, the Wellbeing Peer Support Officer initiative is a band-aid solution to long-standing problems in the public health system,” he said.

“The initiative will do little to address the systemic problems with culture, poor people management practices, over work, psychological distress and burn-out.

“It treats the symptom and not the cause, and will do little to prevent the loss of Nurses and Midwives from the public health system.

“The ANMF ACT is inclined to refer its members to alternative services such as the Nurse and Midwife Support service which provides a range of support services and is independent of Canberra Health Services.”

Janelle Rae, a renal registered nurse, is one of the Wellbeing Peer Support Officers.

“Everyone experiences challenges,” she said. “It’s nice to know that, as a Wellbeing Peer Support Officer, I can make a difference for people who need some help dealing with whatever challenges life brings them.

“I have benefitted both personally and professionally from assistance and care provided by generous people over my 30 years of nursing. I feel grateful that the program offers me the opportunity to participate in returning the favour.”

Flavia D’Ambrosio, senior director of Workforce Culture and Leadership, said: “We are delighted to have great wellbeing peer support officers from a variety of disciplines across Canberra Health Services and look forward to growing the program throughout the year.”

The ACT Government will monitor the program’s benefits and success.

The second round of applications for the Wellbeing Peer Support Officer program has opened. The next cohort of 20 officers are scheduled to be trained this month.

Canberra Health Services aims to have 100 Peer Support Officers across the workforce by the end of 2023.

The Wellbeing Peer Support Officer program is one of the first initiatives co-designed and chosen by Canberra Health Services staff as part of the ACT Government’s $8.5 million Health Workforce Wellbeing and Recovery Fund. Others are the Mayo Clinic Wellbeing Index app and wellness spaces.

• $8.75 million wellbeing fund for ACT public health workers (5 October 2022)
• Wellbeing initiatives to support ACT’s health workforce (6 December 2022)
• Mixed response to Canberra Health Services wellbeing app (17 March)

“I look forward to seeing these initiatives make a real difference to the health and wellbeing of our health workforce and thank everyone who has been involved in making these initiatives a reality,” Ms Stephen-Smith said.

CHS will implement further co-designed wellbeing initiatives.