Government urged to reverse cuts to NHS staff wellbeing hubs
Nursing and healthcare leaders are calling on the government to restore funding for mental health and wellbeing support for NHS staff, as funding for the service is about to be fully withdrawn.
A network of mental health hubs for frontline NHS workers in England was set up in 2020-21, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. These were designed to offer psychological support and help to all NHS staff who needed it.
“The funding simply isn’t there to provide these, sometimes lifesaving, services”
Roman Raczka
Last year funding for the hubs for 2023-24 was cut to £2.3m from an original annual budget of £38.5m. And the remaining funding is set to be withdrawn at the end of March 2024.
This has resulted in 18 of the original 40 hubs closing down in the past 12 months, three slated for closure at the end of March 2024 and a further nine under threat of closure, with no other confirmed source of funding.
Only 10 hubs have confirmed that they are funded to continue providing mental health and wellbeing services to staff over the upcoming year.
A group of 17 organisations including the Royal College of Nursing and led by the British Psychological Society has written an open letter to health and social care secretary Victoria Atkins protesting these cuts.
The letter asks Ms Atkins to take “urgent steps” to restore the ringfenced investment in evidence-based mental health and wellbeing services for NHS staff, social workers and social care staff, delivered as part of a fully funded NHS Long Term Workforce Plan.
It warned that withdrawing funding for the hubs was removing psychological support for health and social care staff that is necessary for them to provide high quality, efficient and effective care.
For every £1 spent on workplace mental health interventions, £5 is saved, according to the open letter.
It also said that overall savings of £1bn could be achieved by successfully tackling the issue of poor wellbeing in NHS staff which is currently estimated to cost upwards of £12bn per year.
Data from the mental health and wellbeing hubs that remain open reveal the severe levels of psychological distress among health and social care staff.
At one hub, 30% of users presented with suicidal thoughts and in another hub nearly one in four of the more than 1,100 people who registered for one-to-one support presented with moderate to severe depression.
In the first two months of 2024 another hub registered its highest number of referrals to date.
The continuing need for mental health and wellbeing support among health and social care staff was also highlighted by the recent NHS Staff Survey, the open letter argued.
This found that 42% of staff reported feeling unwell because of work-related stress over the last 12 months, while 30% often or always felt burnt out.
President-elect of the British Psychological Society Dr Roman Raczka said: “Staff are the lifeblood of our NHS and social care services, and ambitions to achieve improved productivity simply cannot be achieved without investment in a healthy, supported workforce.”
He continued: “The recent NHS Staff Survey results and evidence from Staff Mental Health and Wellbeing Hubs highlights why continued investment in mental health support remains a vital part of the solution to addressing workforce challenges, and research shows it makes good business sense.”
He said that NHS and social care leaders wanted to provide their workforces with the best possible support, but that most integrated care systems were struggling to balance the books.
“The funding simply isn’t there to provide these, sometimes lifesaving, services,” Dr Raczka said.
“That’s why together we’re calling on the government to act and help safeguard the mental health of this vital workforce, both now and in the future.”
Responding, a Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “The health and wellbeing of NHS staff is vitally important, and there is a wide-ranging package of support in place.
“We worked with NHS England to make support available to NHS staff through mental health hubs within each region during 2023-24 and NHS England continues to work with systems to develop tailored health and wellbeing offers that meet the needs of their local workforce.
“This will ensure staff continue to have access to mental health support.”
