The McQueen Charter: Tackling mental health and wellbeing
09 March 2020
Inspired by the late air ambulance doctor Dr Carl McQueen, the McQueen Charter is a new initiative which aims to improve mental health and wellbeing in the workplace by helping employers to create safe, positive and open environments where staff feel their mental health is prioritised, able to discuss their mental health and are supported to access help if needed.
Dr Carl McQueen died by suicide in 2016. His wife, Kirsty, has since co-created this charter with Sarah Atkins, Head of HR at East Anglian Air Ambulance, to make it easier for others to address their mental health and wellbeing. Both women have lost someone close to them to suicide and both wanted to use their personal experiences to help others.
Today, Tuesday 10 March, Kirsty McQueen presented the McQueen Charter at the National Health and Wellbeing at Work Conference at the NEC in Birmingham.
The full charter can be accessed – for free - at: www.eaaa.org.uk/mcqueencharter
“We can't always know what is going on in someone else's life, but we can work hard to create a positive environment for people to work in, one where they are confident they can ask for help with their mental health without being judged. Then, if they do recognise something is going on inside, they will feel better facilitated to cope and take positive steps to address it before it's too late.”
The McQueen Charter
Kirsty continued: “It is also important that people feel encouraged to be curious about their co-workers and friends and to proactively offer support rather than being reactive and waiting to respond to a request for help from a person who may not actually be in a place where they feel they can ask for it.'
Originally designed as a helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) specific tool, as the charter has evolved, Kirsty and Sarah recognised that its principles can be applied to any workplace to encourage upfront policies and conversations about mental health and wish to share the McQueen Charter as widely as possible.
“The Charter is simply a commitment to best practice – it’s not a complicated set of rules. It recommends conducting a wellbeing survey to address the specific priorities of your staff and provides guidance in creating an action plan around that. The McQueen Charter really just makes things clear and easy to follow and advocates taking mental health first aid training as seriously as first aid training; and that our mental health is just as important as our physical health.”
Head of HR at East Anglian Air Ambulance
Kirsty McQueen added: “It’s important to understand that the Charter is not about what happened to Carl - his death was the catalyst for Sarah and me to work together to try and address the bigger issue of mental health and how people can best access support when they need it.
“Suicide is the leading cause of death in men of Carl's age despite it being preventable. It can potentially be avoided if people know where to turn for help and feel comfortable doing so. That's what I want to address with this Charter. If showing our learnings makes a difference to just one person then it is worth something. Carl was passionate about practicing self-reflection and about wanting to help others and those are two key foundations of the Charter which could possibly help save someone else's life".
How does the McQueen Charter work?
The 17-page document is a clear and concise toolkit which demonstrates achievable steps to creating a working environment where staff feel empowered to address their mental health and wellbeing and to help others do the same.
It highlights best practices, ways to create clear signposting and support for employees, advocates mental health first aid training and several other achievable steps which can help create an open and honest working environment where mental health and wellbeing is recognised and – importantly -prioritised.
It sets out a simple framework which can be applied to any workplace and creates a positive legacy for the McQueen family.
The McQueen Charter in practice
East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) has trialled the Charter amongst its 70+ staff and has found it to be hugely effective in engaging staff in their own wellbeing and mental health. It has encouraged the delivery of various workshops and talks on the subject of mental health for all staff and more than 25% of its staff are now certified Mental Health First Aiders, well above the Mental Health England target of 1 in 10.
It has also sparked the introduction of Wellbeing Days – essentially a duvet day which can be taken at short notice by anyone who feels they just need to take a day for themselves. This has seen a significant reduction in the number of sick days attributed to coughs and colds and has created an environment where people feel much more open and comfortable talking about how they’re feeling and what’s going on in their lives.
The part Eliza and Leo McQueen played
Eliza and Leo are Kirsty and Carl’s children. Their involvement has been key in highlighting the impact poor mental health has on a person’s family. Their finger painting of Carl is incorporated into the Charter to remind the people adopting the charter that it doesn’t only benefit their staff, but their staff’s family and friends.
It’s been important to the whole McQueen family that something good should come from their tragedy and that these learnings should be shared widely in order to help others.
Carl McQueen was a beloved family man and passionate Doctor who wanted to make a difference. The McQueen Charter is a positive legacy for him and his family.
Kirsty continued: "For me, involving my children in this process has been key, as it has helped them personally explore their grief. It also highlights that the people who suffer from suicide are also the family and friends left behind, an added motivation for adopting the McQueen Charter in the workplace. The Charter is a commitment to best practice, which doesn't have to be difficult to adopt at all and can be applied to lots of different sectors.”
The full charter can be accessed – for free - at: www.eaaa.org.uk/mcqueencharter