Cara Charles-Barks

It's a question we probably ask multiple times a day and I think that most of you will answer 'fine' – even when that's not the case.

On Time To Talk Day, I want to encourage you to come together to talk, listen and change lives by using the power of conversation to connect with the people we work with, the people we care for and the people in our community. As your CEO, I spend a lot of my day having conversations with lots of people. I'll do this in meetings of course but I'm often out and about visiting you in your areas of work or having get-togethers, like my monthly Birthday Tea, to get to know you all and hear about what matters to you.

It's my privilege to spend time listening to you, understanding what your day is like, hearing your concerns and sharing in your successes. These help me to build a picture of the RUH and see what steps we need to take to arrive at the future we all want to see.

Of course, some of us find conversations about mental health tricky. At the RUH, we have lots of ways to support you to do this, such as our health and wellbeing conversations - a tool used to help staff and managers talk about what helps them to stay well at work. We all have mental health, just like we all have physical health, and lots of things can impact this, like when work is very challenging or pressures in your personal life. There's a range of services on offer that can assist you and take the pressure off by talking to someone who'll understand.

So on Time To Talk Day, my challenge to you is when someone asks how you are, say more than 'I'm fine' and see how that opens up the conversation. If you are the one asking, be prepared to listen or probe a bit more if you think that there may be more the person wants to say.

Make space in your day for a conversation about mental health this Time to Talk Day.