The new MHFA standards are here. Here's what they mean for your MHFAiders.
MHFA England has launched the first national Workplace Mental Health First Aid Standards. What they ask of employers, and how to keep your MHFAider network supported, skilled and visible.
Trained is not the same as supported
On 6 October 2026, MHFA England launched the Workplace Mental Health First Aid Standards, the first national, evidence-based framework for how employers should support mental health first aid at work.
It's a moment many of us in this field have been waiting for. Over the past decade, thousands of organisations have trained MHFAiders. Far fewer have asked the next question: what happens after the course?
At Hope Health, that question has shaped everything we do. We deliver MHFA training, refresher courses, and ongoing supervision and support for MHFAiders and Wellbeing Champions. We've been working towards these standards for years, because we've seen what happens when the support stops at the certificate.
Why standards, and why now
The case is stark. MHFA England's own research found that a third of employers have seen staff take long-term sickness absence due to poor mental health in the past year, and a quarter have seen people resign. Most of those employers believe better support could have kept them.
MHFAiders themselves believe in the role: 91% say they are challenging stigma, and 89% believe MHFAiders save lives. But belief isn't a system. Until now, there was no shared definition of what good MHFA provision looks like.
The four phases
The nine standards sit across four phases. Some are required; others are recommended best practice.
Getting the foundations right. Leadership commitment, governance, policy and the practical infrastructure the role relies on.
Building your MHFAider network. Recruiting the right people, representing your whole workforce, clarifying the role and its boundaries, and training to a consistent standard.
Keeping it working. Support, debrief and wellbeing for MHFAiders, plus reporting and evaluation so the network keeps improving.
Embedding MHFA in your culture. Making MHFAiders visible, connecting them to wider wellbeing support, and building a culture where people talk openly.
The phase most organisations miss
In our experience, Phase Three is where networks quietly fail.
An MHFAider might support a colleague through a panic attack, a bereavement or a crisis on a Tuesday afternoon, then go straight back to their day job. Without a space to debrief, that weight accumulates. Confidence drops. Some step back from the role altogether. Within two years, the network that launched with energy exists mostly on a poster.
That's why supervision matters. Our supervision sessions give MHFAiders a confidential space to reflect on conversations, check boundaries, refresh skills and look after their own wellbeing. It's the same principle every helping profession relies on: the people who hold others need to be held too.
Refresher training does the same for skills. Knowledge fades, and confidence fades faster. A refresher keeps MHFAiders current and reminds them why they stepped forward.
Mental and physical health, together
Phase Four asks employers to connect MHFA to wider wellbeing. This is where we think the standards open a bigger conversation.
Mental health doesn't exist apart from the body. Sleep, blood sugar balance, movement, stress load and recovery all shape how people feel and cope. At Hope Health, we bring these together MHFA alongside health and lifestyle coaching, manager skills and whole-person wellbeing, because sustainable workplaces need sustainable humans.
Where to start
You don't need to meet every standard tomorrow. You need to know where you are. Three questions to begin:
Support: Do your MHFAiders have regular, structured space to debrief?
Skills: When were they last refreshed?
Visibility: Do your people know who their MHFAiders are and how to reach them?
We're offering a Standards Readiness Review: a focused look at your MHFAider network against the nine standards, with a clear, practical action plan. Whether you trained with us or elsewhere, it's a simple first step.
The standards set the bar. Our job is to help you reach it and keep the people who support others supported too.
Book a conversation: nicole@hope-health.co.uk · 020 4538 0758 · hope-health.co.uk
Read the full standards and take the pledge at mhfaengland.org/standards-pledge.
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