The concept of Banks Medical Wellbeing Services came about in 2012, when I was working in general psychiatry in a community-based crisis team situated opposite the gym, to which my sister ‘encouraged’ me to join.

Over the years that followed, I had numerous discussions with private enterprise chief executives, Members of Parliament, and the Ministry of Defence, trying to convince them of the importance of wellbeing in the workforce. It finally came to fruition some 10 years later, when I realised it was time to combine my own version of wellbeing with that of my special interest in occupational psychiatry.

More recently, I have been working in NHS Wellbeing looking after the staff of several busy NHS trusts in London. My role reminded me that my interest in wellness, had started way before my career in medicine; - even as a child, I had filled out scrapbooks with cut-out newspaper articles on nutrition and holistic approaches to managing physical health (often highlighted by my mother "for Anna's attention").

Later, in my preclinical year at Medical School I was the winner of the prize for most original project - mine was entitled Stress, a field of medicine that I continued to explore throughout my career. I continued to be drawn to what would now fall within the sphere of wellbeing - for example, as a specialist registrar, I worked in Sleep Medicine. The ‘art’ of wellbeing has its roots in ancient traditions, a concept that I embraced, whilst studying The History of Medicine, at the Wellcome Institute.

Banks Medical Wellbeing Services has been built upon a foundation of the need for a holistic approach to promoting the achievement of wellness, rather than simply the absence of illness. It taken nearly 28 years working in medicine and psychiatry, and life experience to finally join the dots…

“I remember remarking how Annabelle’s name was exactly the same as the little girl In the famous children’s books by JL Travers. As I got to know her, and the way she would swoop in and sort out all the different departments, I realised she was more akin to the title character - a real life Mary Poppins… “

ST - NHS Colleague