Supporting NHS staff wellbeing with Power Plate®️
How Aaron Tyler is helping frontline healthcare workers reset, recover and recharge
When Aaron Tyler founded Feelgood Fitness & Wellness Centre in Basildon, Essex, his vision was simple: to use movement as a form of medicine.
At his centre, he works with people living with a wide range of health conditions – from Parkinson’s and dementia to cancer and cerebral palsy – helping them regain strength, independence and confidence.
More recently, he has also taken his approach into another environment where wellbeing is critical: the NHS.
Working directly with hospital teams across multiple NHS sites, Tyler delivers short but powerful wellness breaks that help staff recover from the physical and emotional demands of their roles. At the heart of these sessions is one key tool: Power Plate®️.
Wellbeing for frontline staff
The initiative first began in early 2025, when Tyler volunteered at a staff wellness hub in Basildon Hospital, which is run by Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust.
A strong believer in the benefits of Power Plate, which he already used extensively at Feelgood Fitness & Wellness Centre, Tyler took two Power Plate MOVEs into the hospital and offered short recovery sessions to the staff.
The response was immediate. Doctors, nurses and other staff began dropping in to the wellness room between shifts, many exhausted after long hours on their feet or emotionally drained from demanding clinical work.
“One surgeon came in after a six-hour operation and, within three minutes, was asleep on the floor with his legs on the Power Plate,” Tyler recalls.
Word spread quickly. By the end of the year, what began as a voluntary project had evolved into a formal programme supporting staff wellbeing in the pathology departments of Basildon and Southend Hospitals. Piloted in December 2025, the programme was subsequently extended to the end of February 2026.
Then came an off-the-cuff conversation with a Feelgood Fitness & Wellness Centre member, who also happened to be an A&E matron. “She was exhausted after a day at work, so I lay her down and put her legs up on the Power Plate,” says Tyler. “She instantly told me all her staff would benefit and asked me to put a package together. The rest is history.”
Specifically, Tyler is now supporting A&E staff working in the Acute Medical Units of Queen’s Hospital and King George’s Hospital – both managed by the Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust – where staff face intense physical workloads and high levels of stress.
15 minutes to reset
The format of Tyler’s programme is simple but effective: one-to-one, 15-minute sessions that act as time-outs from long, stressful shifts.
Many staff members arrive exhausted, having spent hours dealing with critically ill patients or high-pressure emergency situations. Some sessions therefore focus less on physical intervention and more on coaching techniques such as mindfulness, breathing, visualisation and compassionate conversation.
“It might be someone who’s just had a patient die on them,” explains Tyler. “Sometimes they just need those 15 minutes to reset.”
For others, the challenges are physical: lower limb fatigue from hours spent standing, backache and plantar fasciitis from pushing patients on trolleys, hand and wrist strain from conducting repetitive clinical procedures and so on.
And so each session begins with a simple question: “How are you today?”
“That first minute tells me so much,” confirms Tyler. “It allows me to determine whether this individual needs physical recovery, mental reset or both.”
The power of Power Plate
Where the challenges are physical, Tyler uses Power Plate vibration technology – Power Plate MOVE and Power Plate Pulse – in a variety of ways to meet the individual’s needs.
To promote recovery
Many NHS staff spend entire shifts on their feet, leading to fatigue and swelling of the calves and ankles. By positioning them with their legs elevated on the Power Plate platform, Tyler uses vibration to relax the muscles, stimulate circulation, increase blood flow to the brain and promote lymphatic drainage.
“Improving blood flow also helps oxygenate the body, which can make a huge difference to energy levels,” he adds.
Combined with relaxation techniques or gentle massage – sometimes even full-body vibration massage on the Power Plate platform – the experience helps staff decompress physically and mentally before returning to their shift.
For targeted relief
In other cases, particular hospital roles bring with them specific physical stresses.
Tyler offers the example of a pathology nurse who was suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome – the result of repeatedly taking samples. Using the straps that come with every Power Plate to deliver targeted vibration through her hands and wrists, Tyler was able to relieve her symptoms, allowing her to continue working comfortably.
Others might present with knee or back injuries, in which case Power Plate is used to support basic mobilisation exercises.
For micro-workouts
While most sessions focus on recovery, a small number of staff choose to use their 15 minutes for a quick workout – “to do something for themselves,” explains Tyler.
He adds: “In the fitness industry, we talk about biohacking – how to get results in a short time. Power Plate lets people do that. For busy healthcare professionals who often struggle to find time for exercise, it’s a practical and accessible option.”
Unprecedented engagement
Whatever the focus of their session, for many NHS staff working 12-hour shifts in high-pressure environments, the 15 minutes become a crucial reset. One nurse described the experience as being akin to “a Formula 1 pit stop: we come in exhausted and leave ready to go again”.
“In the high-pressure environment of modern healthcare, even a short break can have a powerful impact,” confirms Tyler. “Fifteen minutes is enough time for something magical to happen.”
Hospital leadership has certainly been struck by the enthusiasm for the programme. According to Tyler, directors and department leads have commented that they have never seen such high engagement in a staff wellness initiative.
Appointments are typically booked up a week in advance, with Tyler seeing 18–24 staff a day. “At St George’s, I’ve even started going in early and working during my breaks to be able to see some of the ESTC triage team, too. I’m based in their ward, so they see all the A&E team coming and going. They want to get involved too!”
Meanwhile, feedback from A&E staff has been unanimously positive. “People say they wish it was available every day,” says Tyler. “I even saw one nurse walk back to her ward singing after her visit.
“And the director of nursing told me she can always tell who’s been in to see me, because they’re smiling. Given the goal of these two hospitals is to boost staff morale, I’d say that’s a tick in the box.”
As a result, the programme – initially scheduled to run January–February 2026 – has been extended to the end of April, with Tyler doing a day a week alternating between Queen’s and King George’s.
Inspired by what it has seen, the maternity department is also now looking at working with Tyler.
“I’m hugely lucky to have wonderful volunteers supporting me at Feelgood Fitness & Wellness Centre,” he says. “It is they who enable me to take time out to work in the hospitals.”
A broader impact
Speaking of Feelgood Fitness & Wellness Centre, Tyler acknowledges the broader impact of his NHS work: the income he earns from delivering these programmes helps support the work he does in his centre.
“There are a lot of people who rely on Feelgood Fitness & Wellness Centre as a lifeline,” he says. “I take that on as my responsibility. The NHS work I do helps me keep my centre running so I can keep helping my members.”
For Tyler, it all comes back to the same principle: helping people feel better.
And for Power Plate? “Working with and supporting Aaron on these NHS projects has been fantastic,” says Iain Murray, managing director of Performance Health Systems, Power Plate’s parent company.
“By successfully merging health, fitness and wellbeing, Aaron is in the vanguard of our industry, leading by example and showcasing best practice that will no doubt inspire others. It is a privilege to work with him.”