Mental Health: Coronavirus

(asked on 25th January 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the prevalence among hospital healthcare workers of (a) anxiety, (b) depression and (c) other clinically significant mental health symptoms (i) at the time of and (ii) subsequent to the first peak of the covid-19 outbreak; what steps he is taking to support those healthcare workers; and if he will make a statement.


Answered by
Helen Whately Portrait
Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This question was answered on 3rd February 2021

Assessments of staff mental health, which includes anxiety and depression, are routinely undertaken locally through analysis of sickness absence data and proactive engagement with staff to understand what support can be provided. A comprehensive package of health and wellbeing services are in place for National Health Service staff, including helplines for counselling and support and free access to well-being apps. £15 million is being invested to strengthen mental health support for NHS staff. This funding will be used to set up mental health hubs that will provide outreach and assessment services to help frontline staff receive rapid access to mental health services. Staff referred will be treated by local mental health specialists and those with the most severe needs will be referred to a specialist centre of excellence.

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