The Royal College of Physicians is supporting the British Psychological Society’s campaign which calls for the government to provide the necessary funding to continue NHS staff mental health and wellbeing hubs.
Government funding for the 40 hubs, which were launched in February 2021 to support NHS and social care staff during the pandemic, ended on 31 March.
President of the Royal College of Physicians, Dr Sarah Clarke, said: “NHS staff mental health and wellbeing hubs are as vital now as they were post-pandemic where staff had faced some of their toughest days in medicine.
“Staff continue to face significant challenges with waiting lists at 7.3m and over 112,000 NHS FTE vacancies – support across retention, sickness, suicide risk and burnout is critical, especially at a time when 23% of all sickness absence in January 2023 was reported as down to anxiety/stress/depression/other psychiatric illness.
“The RCP is proud to back the #FundNHSHubs campaign to keep the hubs open and provide NHS staff with the psychological support they need and deserve.”