Our ‘Meet the MHFA’ series, aims to help you get to know the dozens of trained Mental Health First Aiders we have within #TeamGateshead – serving to grow their profiles, create more friendly faces and provide you with more support networks when you’re in need.

The latest colleague to discuss their experience of Mental Health First Aider training is Laura Gibson, a Liver Nurse within our Gastroenterology Specialist Nursing team who completed a refresher course in March 2023.

Building confidence

In a quick summary, Laura explains that she originally trained as a Mental Health First Aider and participated in a refresher course to as “I wanted to be able to support my colleagues more in the workplace.”

Laura’s highlights of both training and the refresher session focus on confidence, as she continues: “The course builds confidence in how to approach people who are struggling and who might not know where to turn. I’d tell anyone considering the training to do it – it was a good way to meet like-minded people and discuss the different situations we’d all been in.”

Register your interest in Mental Health First Aider training:

Throughout 2023 we will be continuing to offer regular Mental Health First Aider courses. To express your interest and be added to a waiting list of colleagues who are looking to complete the two-day training session, complete our registration form. Alternatively, to learn more about the role itself, visit our First Aiders page or download the role description.

Finding a Mental Health First Aider:

A full list of our Mental Health First Aiders can be found on our Find A Mental Health First Aider page, providing you with contact details for all qualified MHFAs who can act as a point of contact for any employee who is experiencing a mental health issue or emotional distress.

As #MeetTheMHFA unfolds, we’ll be updating the page to link back to these items – providing you with the chance to get to know a First Aider more prior to making contact, as well as looking at how we reformat the page to more clearly identify which MHFAs are from which business unit.