Balint support group is offered to medical staff within CTMUHB as part of the COVID-19 wellbeing support for staff. This is led by wellbeing lead and run by a group of Balint leaders and expert psychiatrists for medical staff of all seniorities.

Throughout the pandemics medical staff in acute services were faced with challenges they never faced before such as moral injury, battle with misinformation, lack of PPE and also witnessing colleagues, patients and families pain through it. This was alongside all the disruption with their personal lives and blurred boundaries between home and work.

Research indicates that some established benefits of Balint groups include; feeling more supported and more validated; better interpersonal outcomes in the Doctor- patient encounter; higher feelings of job satisfaction and generally feeling less isolated and less burnt out. (Kieldmand & Holmstrom 2008; Benson & McGrath 2005).

We hope that the experience of Balint support group will be a start of peer emotional support group among medical staff in acute services where a safe, confidential space is created and continued to grow among group members. This is prioritising compassion at the heart of leadership and utilising creative ways of empowering employees and promoting staff wellbeing in such crisis.

A qualitative study will be conducted half way into running the groups focusing on subjective experience of the attendees as well as burnout indicators.

We anticipate poor initial engagement will be an issue due to stigma, exhaustion and lack of exposure to Balint.

In crisis such as Covid-19 pandemic leaders has to be innovative using resources smartly and also inclusive on welcoming and promoting new ideas in order to support staff wellbeing.

Introduction of Balint group to other specialities will offer them tools to maintain a safe confidential peer support system at the time of crisis as well as normal times in order to reduce burn out.