Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he is having with (a) NHS England, (b) NHS Trusts and (c) NHS Foundation Trusts on the mental health effects of the covid-19 outbreak on staff; and what steps is he taking to provide additional mental health support to those staff, with particular reference to (i) the impacts of trauma and (ii) trauma counselling.

We have worked closely with NHS England to put in place a comprehensive package of mental health and wellbeing services for staff, including counselling helplines, support for line managers to have health and wellbeing conversations with their staff and free access to mental health apps. Last autumn, we invested £30 million to strengthen mental health support and enhance occupational health in the National Health Service. This funding is being used to set up mental health hubs that will provide outreach and assessment services to help staff receive rapid access to mental health services.

Staff referred will be treated by local mental health specialists and those with severe needs will be referred to a specialist centre of excellence. The investment will create a national support service for those deemed most at risk of severe trauma, such as critical care staff. Proactive engagement with staff is routinely undertaken to assess the mental health effects of the pandemic and understand what further support should be provided.