Meet our People: Sarah Bennett

NHS 111 calls are answered by our Call Handlers and are often assessed further or revalidated by Clinical Advisors. Inevitably, some calls to our services – for instance, those involving a profoundly ill child or an end-of-life scenario – can be extremely challenging and take an emotional toll on our colleagues. At HUC, we believe in supporting the well-being of our people and therefore have trained incident debriefers, who offer a safe space for Call Handlers or Clinical Advisors to share their feelings following a particularly difficult call.

Sarah Bennett, a valued NHS 111 Call Handler and Auditor, recently completed an incident debriefing course. This informative one-day workshop has developed her skills to navigate discussions with colleagues after demanding calls. She reflects by saying, “Following the training course and gaining essential knowledge, I have improved my awareness of how significant debriefing actually is. Having the capability to engage in a debriefing session with a colleague is crucial in supporting them and offering reassurance on their contributions to their role.”

Sarah believes support and comfort is essential when handling challenging calls from patients. Highlighting the importance of the incident debriefing course, she says, “Having personally encountered the pressures that accompany certain calls within my roles, I do understand their challenges. Therefore, I recognise the importance of debriefers in helping employees express their emotions. Moreover, I must commend the exceptional aftercare support provided at HUC!