Introduction It is well known that morale amongst NHS employees is low, with associated high rates of stress-related absences and burnout. Professional resilience is often discussed regarding working within stressful and challenging environments, with humour identified as a characteristic and coping strategy. Banter is a form of humour, defined as ‘teasing or joking talk that is amusing and friendly’. Banter is a light-hearted exchange between humans, forming an integral aspect of social bonding, which when translated to the working environment can improve teamwork, offer respite, and be a stress reliever in tense environments. Nevertheless, bullying is a prevalent issue within the NHS and ‘it was just a bit of banter’ is occasionally utilised as justification for harmful behaviour. The use of banter in the NHS working environment is sparsely explored. We therefore ran a workshop addressing whether banter should be removed within the NHS.

Aims and objectives of the research project or activity The aim of our project was to explore healthcare professionals’ views of banter within the NHS working environment and to assess healthcare professionals’ views on whether banter within the NHS should be banned. We aimed to educate healthcare professionals on workplace banter, both its perceived benefits and its negative impact, with emphasis on relevant laws including the Equality Act 2010.

Additionally, we aimed to introduce a novel concept to approach banter within the NHS workplace: the ‘Banter Safety Checklist’, a framework designed to promote safe banter within the workplace. We aimed to assess whether workshop’s participants’ views of banter changed following introduction of the ‘Banter Safety Checklist’ within the realms of an educational workshop.

Method or approach The Women’s Clinician Network at Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals (SWBH) NHS Trust hosted an interactive national event open to all NHS colleagues titled ‘Stand with me, not by me. Be an ally, don’t bystand but upstand’.

Within this event, a workshop titled ‘Remove Banter within the NHS?’ was hosted. Attendees were educated on definitions of banter, its perceived benefits and drawbacks, and the blurring between ‘banter’ and ‘bullying’. The workshop outlined the created ‘Banter Safety Checklist’, devised to be utilised and promote appropriate workplace banter. Fictional cases were then presented during the workshop, where attendees practiced utilising the introduced ‘Banter Safety Checklist’ to help differentiate between safe, positive workplace banter versus inappropriate, negative workplace behaviours.

Attendees were anonymously surveyed prior to and after completing the workshop on whether banter within the NHS should be banned.

Findings Prior to this workshop, 47% of attendees wanted to ban banter from the NHS. Following the workshop and introduction of the Banter Safety Checklist, the proportion of attendees wanting to ban banter from the NHS reduced to 15%.

This decrease in attendees wanting to ban banter in the NHS may suggest that if utilised correctly, the presence of banter in the workplace can have positive impacts if undertaken safely and with care. The Banter Safety Checklist (as outlined below) provides a novel framework to aid healthcare professionals in which to safely and appropriately use banter within the NHS.

‘Banter Safety Checklist: For banter to be ‘safe’ one needs to ensure the following 3 criteria are met:

1. Everyone involved understands it is banter

2. Everyone finds it funny

3. Everyone there feels included and safe’

Key messages Banter is a prevalent form of humour employed in social human interaction. Benefits of banter in the workplace are multi-fold, including improving morale, increasing team cohesiveness and diffusing hierarchical barriers. Nevertheless, banter is not without its risks, with the significant potential for workplace bullying with ‘banter’ being used as a guise for harmful and inappropriate behaviour.

Prior to a workshop on the topic of workplace banter, there were mixed views on the ongoing use of banter within the NHS. However, following an educational workshop and the introduction of the ‘Banter Safety Checklist’, the majority of attendees did not want to ban the presence of banter within the NHS. This highlights that with a framework in place to prevent the negative impacts of banter, banter may indeed have a place within our NHS if used correctly, safely and appropriately, leading to a positive and fun working environment.