Barry Swire – Veterans are welcome at Cygnet Health Care
Barry Swire is the Operations Director for the South East at Cygnet Health Care and serves as Cygnet’s Armed Forces Champion. He is dual-qualified as a registered general nurse and a registered mental health nurse. He is also Cygnet’s national lead for TRiM (Trauma Risk Management) and StRaW (Sustaining Resilience at Work).
After 27 years of service with the Royal Navy, I joined the mental healthcare profession and felt right at home with Cygnet Health Care. Cygnet is one of the best quality providers of mental health services in the UK and has been supporting people with complex and acute mental health needs for over 30 years. I am proud to be Cygnet’s Armed Forces Champion and help the organization to support veterans and their families throughout their careers at Cygnet.
I did my nurse training with the Royal Navy and served with them until 2017. My work took me and my family all around the world, including Afghanistan. I had always wanted to join the military and the Navy appealed to me because they were one of the armed forces that offered training to student nurses while they were in the service, rather than simply offering direct entry to those already qualified. It seemed like a win-win for me and I enjoyed my time in service.
A couple of years after leaving the Navy, I joined Cygnet Health Care in 2019. I found that the ethos of the senior team was closely aligned with my own military values of respect, teamwork and camaraderie. The organization is focused on providing high-quality care and they really value the individuals who work there. There is a great sense of trust among the staff. 85% of Cygnet’s facilities are rated as good or outstanding by the Care Quality Commission, which is above the national average and reflects the commitment and professionalism of our staff.
Having worked with other providers, I believe that Cygnet stands out as an organization that upholds my values in everything they do. It is a team-oriented working environment that ex-military personnel will fit comfortably into.
Why join the sector?
Mental healthcare is an extremely rewarding profession and I believe that many veterans and reservists would really enjoy the work. It is a challenging workplace but one that ex-military personnel will thrive in. I have found that there is a similar level of good humour and banter as the military itself, creating a familiar and positive working environment.
Crucially for many ex-military personnel, this is certainly not a desk job. Whether you are a nurse, a support worker or specialist, you will enjoy the active nature of your role and you will build lasting friendships with colleagues. The most important part of working in this sector is that you truly care about the people you are helping and that you want to make a positive difference.
The Armed Forces Covenant
Cygnet has recently been awarded the Bronze Award from the Armed Forces Covenant Employer Recognition Scheme for the support it offers to defence personnel. Our recruitment initiatives are designed to be Armed Forces-friendly and encourage applications from reservists, Armed Forces veterans (including those who are wounded, injured and sick), cadet instructors and military spouses and partners. We are proud to have joined the 7600 other organisations who have signed the covenant, including 527 healthcare providers.
We are now working towards the Silver Award, by setting up a Veterans Network within the organization. In addition to my role overseeing Cygnet services across the South East, I have been appointed as Cygnet’s Armed Forces Champion. This means I am responsible for coordinating the Veterans Network and making sure our ex-forces staff are well supported at Cygnet as they transition into civilian life. The network will give them a chance to speak with others with similar experiences and perspectives as them, sharing the challenges that others may not face. After leaving the forces, I found that it is really comforting just to talk to people who use and understand the same military terminology as you.
Transferrable skills
I hope that the network will also help staff to understand the value of the skills they have picked up in the military. Many don’t realise just how transferrable these skills are, particularly in a healthcare setting. Being in the Armed Forces provides you with experience with management, leadership, problem-solving and mentorship. Ex-forces personnel tend to have a ‘can-do’ attitude that is invaluable in the care sector. We’re always focused on solutions rather than problems and can adapt to different situations very quickly and reliably. Equally, we are used to maintaining discipline and following protocols, which is clearly a must in healthcare systems.
However, for many employers, it is difficult to discern these qualities from the CV of a veteran or reservist. Hiring teams should have an understanding of what someone’s military experience says about their skillset. By signing the Armed Forces Covenant and listening to veterans, Cygnet has committed to rectifying this problem and taking care to recognise the talent of ex-forces personnel in our recruitment drives.
We also make sure that we value and recognize the family of veterans. Other employers may see regular job changes as a negative quality on a CV but at Cygnet, we understand that this is unavoidable when moving around the world with a partner who is in the military. It is vital that employers understand these subtleties when hiring individuals with links to the Armed Forces.
Cygnet also aims to support reservists who work with us and we respect their choice to continue serving. We are proud of our reservists and hope to show that by holding ‘Wear Your Uniform to Work Days’.
Support for our staff
At Cygnet, we take staff support very seriously, so ex-military personnel should feel confident that they will be taken good care of if they join the team. I am the national lead for TRiM (Trauma Risk Management) and StRaW (Sustaining Resilience at Work), two vital strategies for supporting staff wellbeing at work.
TRiM was initially developed for use in the Royal Marines by Neil Greenberg and functions as an intervention to help staff after they have been involved in a traumatic incident. It is based on peer support, meaning that anyone can be a TRiM practitioner with a bit of training. Within 72 hours of an incident, staff will be asked a series of questions, which will inform a score that we can track as time goes on. This helps us to flag up where there may be lasting effects and risks of developing PTSD, so we can offer more support. For example, if someone’s answers at the 6-week mark are still giving a high score, we might need to consider referring them to their GP.
StRaW is aimed at preventing burnout and compassion fatigue in high-pressure jobs. Usually individuals who work in intense fields can decompress and recharge at home but sometimes this isn’t possible when there is also stress at home. This means that they will come into work the next day with stress levels that build and build, chipping away at people’s resilience. StRaW can help to pick people up when this is happening and will give them the skills to be able to offload their stress. It is a key tool in looking after the mental wellbeing of our staff, so they don’t experience burnout.
Both of these strategies aim to detect mental health risks early on and intervene with appropriate measures. These resources are necessary for any workplace but it is especially important for veterans who are used to a high level of institutional support.
Walking Home for Christmas
This Christmas, we participated in a sponsored walk in support of Walking With The Wounded, a fantastic charity that helps injured British Armed Forces servicemen and women to transition into civilian life. Our walk from Manchester to Cygnet Bury was part of an initiative called Walking Home For Christmas and we hope to do further fundraising in 2022. We have set up a donation page and are hoping to raise £2500 for this very worthwhile cause.
If you are interested in entering the mental healthcare profession and joining Cygnet Health Care, I would highly encourage you to come and visit us to see how we operate. I think you’ll find that our ethos and values are a great match with yours. Roles in care can be challenging but very fulfilling, and there will always be excellent support available to you in difficult times.
