NHS Practitioner Health Wellbeing
Tools, support and guidance for health and care professionals
Tap the circle any time you need a calmer moment
Keep this on your home screen
It takes about ten seconds, and it isn’t the same as bookmarking the page.
- Opens with its own icon, like any other app
How are you right now?
Tools
In-the-moment help
Understanding and managing your emotions
A guide and toolkit for health and care professionals
Type to search all eleven chapters. Results appear below.
Chapters
In-the-moment tools
Box breathing
Breathe in for 4, hold for 4, out for 4, hold for 4. It stimulates the vagus nerve and your parasympathetic nervous system, which can bring an increased sense of calm. Follow the circle.
5-4-3-2-1 grounding
A simple, powerful way to reduce anxiety and bring yourself back to the present, using your five senses. Move through each step slowly.
The CBT triangle
CBT - cognitive behavioural therapy - is a practical, widely used approach that looks at how your thoughts, feelings and behaviours are linked, and how a small change to one can shift the others. This is its core idea as a single picture. Tap any corner to see what it does - or watch a real cycle play out.
Map your own cycle
Take a moment that got to you recently and walk it round the triangle. Sometimes the situation itself needs to change, and sometimes it can't. Either way, you can look at how you're thinking about it and how you respond.
Nothing you type here is saved or sent anywhere. Closing this page clears it.
Thinking traps
Cognitive distortions are mental shortcuts that twist how we read a situation. Recognising the trap is the first step out of it. Tap each one.
Orpheus: unwanted emotions
A guided exercise designed to help reduce the intensity of a specific unwanted emotion or stressful thought. Set aside around 15-20 minutes and follow the instructions in the Unwanted Emotions module.
Free access is available to NHS workers through the dedicated NHS Practitioner Health access page.
This resource is provided by Orpheus Mind Technologies and opens on an external website with its own privacy arrangements.
Wind down
If your mind is still racing after a shift, an on-call, or late at night, it can help to get it out of your head and onto the page. This is one of the authors' favourite techniques: write down everything that's whirring around - the worries, the to-dos, the things you can't let go of. Many people find that once it's written down in front of them, it loosens its grip. It saves on your device as you type, so you can come back to it.
Sleeping around shifts
- Coming off a run of nights, a short sleep when you get home then a longer one later often beats one long, broken sleep.
- Give yourself a wind-down before bed as you would coming off shift - dim the lights, put the screen down, do something slow.
- Keep the room dark, cool and quiet; an eye mask and ear plugs help for daytime sleep.
- Go easy on caffeine in the second half of a shift, and be wary of using alcohol to drop off - it fragments sleep later in the night.
- If you're wired and can't sleep, get up, do something calm in low light, and go back when you feel drowsy rather than lying there fighting it.
This saves on your own device as you type, so it's still here when you come back - it isn't sent anywhere. Tap Clear to remove it.
Be your own colleague
When something goes wrong, the voice in our head is often far harsher than anything we'd say to someone we respect. This is a short exercise in turning that around.
Now read those words back - to yourself.
If you'd never speak to a colleague the way you speak to yourself, that gap is worth noticing. You are as deserving of that kindness as they are.
Nothing you type here is saved or sent anywhere. Closing the page clears it.
The Wellbeing Podcast
Listen to the NHS Practitioner Health podcast. In each episode we have insightful conversations with a variety of expert speakers discussing how you manage your mental health and wellbeing, and the challenges faced by health and care professionals. This includes the Understanding and Managing Your Emotions series, and the Burnout and Beyond series.
Recommended episodes
Latest episodes
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About this app
This is a wellbeing app for health and care professionals, originally built on Understanding and managing your emotions: a guide and toolkit for health and care professionals, published by NHS Practitioner Health.
It brings together the full text of the book, interactive versions of the tools it describes - box breathing, 5-4-3-2-1 grounding, the CBT triangle, and a wellbeing check-in - a personal wellbeing wheel, and a support section with helplines, crisis contacts and NHS and social care wellbeing services. It also links to the NHS Practitioner Health Wellbeing Podcast.
The app is designed to respect your privacy: what you write in the tools stays on your own device. You can read more on the .
Copyright
The book text and illustrations are © NHS Practitioner Health and its authors. The book is available free of charge as a PDF from practitionerhealth.nhs.uk (opens in a new tab).
Important
This app is a reflective and educational resource. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and it cannot diagnose any condition. If you are struggling, please see the .
Privacy statement
Last reviewed: July 2026
The short version
This app does not ask who you are, does not create an account, and does not send anything you type or record to us or to anyone else. There is no advertising and no cookies. We do count how many people visit, but only as anonymous totals that cannot be traced back to you (see “Visitor numbers” below).
What is stored, and where
- Wellbeing check-ins are saved in your own browser, on the device you used, so that you can compare them over time. They never leave that device. Clearing your browser data deletes them, and anyone else who uses the same device and browser could open the app and see them.
- Your Staying Well Plan is saved the same way, in your own browser on this device. It never leaves the device, and you can download, print or clear it at any time from the Wellbeing page.
- The Wind down note (in Tools) is also saved in your own browser on this device, so it is still there when you come back. It never leaves the device, and the Clear button removes it.
- Your text-size preference is stored the same way.
- The cycle-mapping tool, and the "Be your own colleague" exercise, store nothing at all. What you type exists only while the page is open and disappears when you close it.
You can download or delete your check-ins at any time from the Check-in page.
If you share a device
Because check-ins are stored in the browser, a shared or ward computer is not a private place to keep them. If that applies to you, download your check-ins and then delete them from the app, or use a private browsing window.
Things that connect to other services
- Podcast episodes are listed and played from Buzzsprout. When the app opens the podcast page it fetches the current episode list from Buzzsprout, and playing an episode counts as a download in the podcast’s own statistics, as it would in any podcast app. This means Buzzsprout’s servers see your device’s IP address, as any website you visit does.
- Fonts are built into the app itself, not loaded from an outside company, so opening the app does not tell any font provider that you have used it.
- Links to Samaritans, Shout, Mind, NHS 111 and others open those organisations’ own websites, which have their own privacy policies.
Visitor numbers
The app is hosted on Netlify. Netlify counts visits and page views so we can see how many people are using the app and whether it is helping. This is aggregate and anonymous: it uses no cookies, does not track you across other websites, and does not record which sections you personally looked at. We cannot tell that a particular person opened, for example, the crisis or Staying Well Plan pages.
As part of running any website, Netlify’s servers also keep standard technical logs, which include visitors’ IP addresses. An IP address counts as personal data, so we mention it here for completeness, but it is not linked to anything you type in the app.
How we have checked this
We have completed a Data Protection Impact Assessment for this app. It confirms that no wellbeing content leaves your device, that the only information reaching us is the anonymous visitor totals described above, and that the app makes no third-party font calls. If you would like to see it, or have any question about how your data is handled, you can contact NHS Practitioner Health.
Contacting anyone here does not go through this app
Calling or texting a helpline from a link in this app is a direct call or text from your phone. This app is not involved and does not know that it happened.
Accessibility statement
Last reviewed: July 2026
We want as many people as possible to be able to use this app. We have aimed to meet WCAG 2.2 level AA.
What we have done
- Text and background colours have been checked to meet the AA contrast minimum.
- A text-size control on the home screen enlarges everything, and the app also responds to your browser or device text-size settings.
- Everything can be reached and operated with a keyboard, with a visible focus outline and a “skip to content” link.
- Diagrams, the wellbeing wheel and the CBT triangle have text alternatives, and the wheel’s scores are also available as text.
- Animation - including the breathing circle - is reduced or stopped if your device is set to reduce motion.
- Buttons and controls are large enough to tap comfortably.
Known limitations
- The breathing exercise is guided visually with a moving circle and a countdown. There is no audio guidance yet.
- The wellbeing wheel is a visual summary. The underlying numbers are readable as text, but the shape itself conveys the pattern most clearly.
- Podcast episodes do not have transcripts. These are provided by the podcast, not by this app.
- The book text was transcribed from the published PDF and may contain typographical errors that are not in the original.
Alternative formats
The full book is available as a PDF from practitionerhealth.nhs.uk (opens in a new tab). If you need it in another format, contact NHS Practitioner Health via their contact page (opens in a new tab).
Telling us about a problem
If you find something you cannot use, please . We will do our best to put it right.
Tell us what you think
This app is new. If something is broken, confusing, hard to read, or simply not useful, we would like to know - it is the only way it gets better.
Feedback about this app
Use the NHS Practitioner Health feedback form and mention the “Practitioner Health Wellbeing app” so it reaches the right people - practitionerhealth.nhs.uk/feedback-and-complaints (opens in a new tab)
You can also make suggestions for future podcast episodes using the feedback links above.
Please don’t use feedback to ask for help in a crisis. Nobody monitors it around the clock. If you need support now, the lists services that answer 24/7.
Your wellbeing
Eight areas of life, rated as you’ve felt over the past two weeks. There’s no right shape and no target score - the point is to notice which segments are running thin, and to see how that changes when you come back to it.
Your history
A Staying Well Plan is something you write while you are well. It records what keeps you steady, what tends to knock you off course, what the early signs look like in you, and what you want to happen if things get difficult - decided calmly in advance, rather than in the middle of it.
Fill in as much or as little as you like, in any order. It saves as you type. You can print it, download it, or take it to an appointment.
There is always help at hand
This guide is reflective and educational - it is not a replacement for professional care. Whatever is happening, you are not alone and there are people here to help. Choose what fits where you are right now.
I can't keep myself safe, or I might hurt someone else
This includes if you have harmed yourself, or feel unable to stay safe. Mental health emergencies are serious - you are not wasting anyone's time.
- Call 999, or go straight to A&E and say that you are struggling
- Contact your local crisis team if you are already known to them
- If you can't do this yourself, ask someone to help you
Not sure whether to call 999? Call NHS 111 and they will tell you what to do and where to go.
I need help urgently, but my life isn't at risk
- Call NHS 111 for the 24/7 mental health support line, or use 111 online (England)
- Go to an urgent treatment centre
- Ask your GP for an emergency appointment
I want to talk to someone
These free, confidential helplines are open to anyone - whether you're struggling yourself or worried about someone else. They won't judge you.
Samaritans
Round the clock, every day. Call 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org
Shout
Free, anonymous 24/7 text support. Health and care staff: text NHSPH to 85258.
Breathing Space (Scotland)
Free, confidential phone and webchat for anyone in Scotland over 16 feeling low, anxious or depressed. Call 0800 83 85 87.
Not 24/7: Monday to Thursday 6pm to 2am, and Friday 6pm right through to Monday 6am. Outside those hours, Samaritans answer at any time - breathingspace.scot
Papyrus HOPELINE247
For anyone under 35 with thoughts of suicide, and for those worried about them. Call 0800 068 41 41, 24/7.
CALM
Helpline and webchat for anyone who needs to talk - thecalmzone.net
Mind
Information and an infoline on mental health problems, treatment and where to get help - mind.org.uk
NHS Talking Therapies (England)
Free talking therapy for anxiety and depression. You can refer yourself without going through your GP - find your local service
NHS mental health advice
Guides on symptoms, self-help, treatments and where to get help - nhs.uk/mental-health
I'm worried about someone else
Supporting someone in crisis can be frightening. Your support still makes a real difference.
- Stay calm and listen without judging
- Let them know you care
- Encourage them to get help, and stay with them if they are at risk of harm
Touched by suicide
Most people working in health and care will be affected by suicide at some point: a patient, a colleague, someone close to them, or their own mental health. It is rarely talked about, and people are often left unsure what to say or do.
NHS Practitioner Health has written a guide for exactly this, covering what to do before, during and after a suicide-related crisis:
- If you are worried about a colleague and don’t know how to start the conversation
- If your team or practice has lost someone, and you are trying to respond well
- If you have lost a patient and are carrying the guilt and the questions that follow
- If you are struggling yourself
Preparing ahead
Make a safety plan
Think of a safety plan like a seatbelt - it's there to protect you when you need it most. It doesn't take long, and it's a positive step you can take today, before things get hard. You might ask someone you trust to do it with you.
- Staying Safe - step-by-step guidance and templates
- Stay Alive app - a pocket suicide-prevention resource
- Every Life Matters - if you're having thoughts of suicide
Asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness.
If you work in health or care, dedicated services exist for you.
NHS Practitioner Health
A free, confidential NHS mental health and addiction service for health and care professionals in England and Scotland. Call 0300 0303 300 or visit practitionerhealth.nhs.uk
Supporting our NHS People (England)
NHS England’s wellbeing offer for everyone working in health and social care - england.nhs.uk/supporting-our-nhs-people
- Check my wellbeing - a free, confidential self-check tool that points you to the right support
- Staff mental health and wellbeing services
- Free wellbeing apps
- Substance misuse and gambling support
- Financial wellbeing
- If you have been affected by sexual misconduct at work
Canopi (Wales)
Free and confidential mental health support for NHS and social care staff across Wales. Visit canopi.nhs.wales
National Wellbeing Helpline (Scotland)
Free and open to everyone working in health and social care in Scotland, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Call 0800 111 4191.
Run by NHS 24, your call is answered by a trained Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner offering a compassionate listening service, advice, and onward referral if you want it.
- Your employer, Health Board and GP are not told unless you agree. Information is only passed on without consent if there is immediate concern for your safety, and that is discussed with you at the time.
- You can call anonymously if you prefer, though onward referral then isn’t possible.
- If you’d rather not be referred within your own Board, you can be referred to another one instead.
- Open to staff who work in Scotland but live in England.
- More about the helpline
National Wellbeing Hub (Scotland)
Wellbeing support for everyone working in health, social care and social work in Scotland - wellbeinghub.scot
Your employer's staff support
Most NHS and social care employers provide a free, confidential Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) - usually 24/7 counselling and practical advice, often for family members too. Many staff don't realise they have one. Check your trust or organisation's intranet, or ask HR or occupational health.
Support information here is signposted from NHS Practitioner Health's crisis and wellbeing pages. Services change - please check their site for the current version.