Public sector organisations have a responsibility under law to provide services and support their community and workforce in a way that drives forward equality and inclusion.

Employees must develop an awareness of equality, diversity and inclusion to help them meet the needs of a diverse customer base and workforce, they need to be clear about best practice, and make their own commitment to this agenda within their roles.

This programme aims to provide a general and comprehensive training for staff across the Council that ensures a good understanding of their responsibilities for equality.

All delegates must have completed the Equality and Diversity e-learning session prior to attending this course.

The First Aid at Work course, covered over 3 days, will qualify you as a First Aider and will enable you to deal with an accident or injury in the workplace. It will qualify you to diagnose a variety of possible illnesses and injuries and will enable you to assess the need to seek further medical attention.

At the end of the course there is a written exam and trainees must demonstrate the skills and knowledge learnt during the course, when there will be some hands on floor work. Trainees will receive a certificate at the end of the course and the qualification lasts for three years.

This is a blended learning approach and requires you to complete some pre-course work. A link to the online learning will be sent to you by the trainer nearer the time. The work must be completed in order to become a qualified and accredited Mental Health First Aider.

The guidance from MHFA England suggests the following pre course durations

Individual Learning Session 1 : 1 hr
Individual Learning Session 2 : 2 hr
Individual Learning Session 3 : 2 hr
Individual Learning Session 4 : 2 hr

This course is for ESCC employees to train as Mental Health First Aiders to support their colleagues in the workplace. Please ensure you read the attached ‘MHFA supporting guidance and commitments’ document and the information below carefully as this contains full information about the course and the MHFA scheme.

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is an internationally recognised two day accredited training course which teaches people how to spot the signs and symptoms of mental ill health and provide help on a first aid basis. There are four sessions to this course, 2 on each of 2 days, and allowing ample time for coffee/comfort breaks.

MHFA training won’t teach you to be a therapist, but just like physical first aid, it will teach you to listen, reassure and respond, even in a crisis. The MHFA course is delivered by a quality assured Instructor accredited by the Royal Society for Public Health, who are trained to keep people safe and supported while they learn.

You’ll learn to recognise warning signs of mental ill health, and develop the skills and confidence to approach and support someone whilst keeping yourself safe.

What managers are agreeing to when approving their staff member’s attendance on this course:

• To releasing your staff member for the two day training course, plus any post support sessions (approx. 2 sessions lasting a maximum of 3 hours each).
• To releasing your staff member for related meetings and/or training (approximately 2 per year).
• Allowing time to support colleagues when needed (often at short notice).

What you are committing to:

• Undertaking the accredited training and any additional training (where required) to acquire and maintain your MHFA certificate.
• Becoming part of the pool of accredited MHFAers and providing mental health first aid within your workplace as needed, at your level of competence and training.
• Being able to be called away from your normal duties at short notice if required.
• Acting as a Mental Health Champion and partaking in ad-hoc wellbeing events (when required and dependent on needs of the service).
• Partaking in post training support as required/directed.