Robin Barker, CEO and founder, We Can Talk; Registered Nurse (Mental Health)
Over the last eight years, I’ve seen what’s possible when you bring hospital staff, mental health experts and people with lived experience together. That’s what We Can Talk has always been—co-designed, co-delivered, and grounded in the real world of acute care.
And yet, here we are.
Mental health—patients arriving in crisis—is still an issue of concern for every acute hospital trust in the country.
It’s on the agenda in every board meeting.
Every planning session.
Every huddle.
We hear the same things again and again:
More patients. More risk. More distress. More pressure on staff.
And still, we avoid saying the thing that everybody already knows.
Nobody wants to acknowledge the elephant in the room.
That despite all the conversations, despite all the references to mental health in minutes and strategies… many organisations still aren’t doing the one thing they could do today to support their staff.
They’re not investing in mental health education.
They’re not creating the conditions for staff to feel prepared.
An everyday part of the job
Acute hospital staff support the emotional and mental health needs of every single person who walks through the door—not just those arriving due to their mental health, but everyone.
And they’re doing it everywhere:
In waiting rooms. In corridors. In open bays.
They don’t shut the doors when systems break down.
They don’t hide behind referral forms or opening hours.
They meet people where they are.
And far too often, they’re doing it without the training or support they need.
There are one million people working in acute hospital settings.
Our goal is to train them all.
Because mental health isn’t a specialist subject.
It’s an everyday part of the job.
Staff are already leading
In the last four months alone, over 5,000 staff have completed more than 15,000 hours of online learning through our platform.
Not because their trust told them to.
But because staff on the frontline shared it, promoted it, encouraged their colleagues, and made time for it.
They took it seriously.
They prioritised it.
Often, they did it on their own time.
So the question is:
What are organisations going to do to meet that commitment?
How will they ensure every member of staff has the confidence to use the skills they already have to support someone in crisis?
Because when we speak to patients who’ve attended hospital due to their mental health, they tell us clearly:
Anyone—from the receptionist to the doctor to the cleaner—has the power to transform their experience.
To make them feel human.
To make them feel heard.
From national to local: it’s time to act
Last November, I announced our shift from a nationally available programme to one that is locally owned.
Not because I had a crystal ball on national policy.
But because we’ve always known: to create lasting change, this work has to live inside trusts.
This isn’t a nice-to-have.
Mental health training for acute hospital staff is now a requirement for the job.
It’s a reflection of the reality we’re working in.
We’re proud of what we achieved through national support.
But we didn’t build this to sit on a shelf.
We built it to last.
To be embedded.
To be part of everyday hospital life.
What comes next
From April, we’re introducing our new one-hour e-learning, suitable for all staff, supporting patients of all ages, with unlimited licences and priced for partnership—not for profit.
So if your trust tells you they can’t afford it—at a time when agency spend is climbing, sickness rates are up, and complaints are rising—it’s not a funding issue.
It’s a leadership issue.
Let me be clear: this isn’t about letting the system off the hook.
We absolutely need to apply pressure—on politicians, commissioners, and national bodies.
We need a system that doesn’t wait until crisis to act.
But while we fight for that, we can’t leave staff without support.
We Can Talk gives hospital staff the tools to face what’s happening right now.
It says: You’re not failing. The system is.
And here is something you can do to keep going—without burning out or backing away.
That’s why this work matters.
So here’s what I’ll leave you with:
If your trust talks about mental health in the boardroom but doesn’t provide training for staff—that’s the elephant in the room.
We don’t need another working group.
We don’t need another strategy.
We need action.
Because staff are ready.
And patients can’t wait.
Want to talk about how this could work in your trust?
You can email me directly at robin@wecantalk.com
Or use the form below and select: “I want to connect with your team.”