An NHS staff mental health service in Cambridgeshire described as a “lifeline” is to close at the end of March due to a lack of funding.
The service was created to support NHS staff affected by the Covid-19 outbreak and has since continued to help staff across the country deal with the trauma they are witnessing.
However, the health providers whose staff use the service – Cambridge University Hospitals, Cambridgeshire Community Services, Royal Papmouth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust – have failed to provide any funding to maintain it.
Instead, after initial funding from the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Integrated Care Board (ICBs), the service bill was fully funded by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Foundation Trust (CPFT), which runs the county’s mental health services. Now, CPFT says it can no longer fund the annual cost – a figure it has not disclosed, but is thought to be hundreds of thousands of pounds.
The decision has left NHS staff fearing the impact on their colleagues and raised questions about absenteeism rates within the NHS.
The service has seen around 2,250 NHS staff since it launched five and a half years ago.
Roles in the service have been put at risk by the closure, although redeployment is being explored.
The decision comes at a time when the government’s 10-year NHS health plan indicated that ICBs across the country would establish staff treatment centres, providing high-quality professional health services for all NHS staff, including support for back conditions and mental health issues.
A CPFT spokesman told The Cambridge Independent: “We are very proud of the staff mental health service, which was originally set up to provide support to NHS colleagues in the area whose mental health was adversely affected by the effects of working during unprecedented days.
“After the initial funding, efforts to secure additional funds from our partners to continue the service were unsuccessful and we had to make the difficult decision to close the service at the end of March.
“Our mental health services for the people of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough are not affected by this decision, and as residents of this area, NHS staff can continue to access these services through a referral from their GP.”
CPFT said those currently being treated by the service would continue to receive support.
It works with people who have been assessed or are awaiting assessment to get help through the trust’s mental health teams, in the same way that residents would access support.
Asked whether it had considered participating in the funding of services used by its staff at Addenbrooke’s and Rosie, a Cambridge University Hospitals spokesman said: “Following news of the proposed changes to the service, we are looking to work with health partners to identify alternative arrangements. CUH is committed to ensuring our staff get the support they need. The telephone advice service.”
The Cambridge Independent understands that senior health leaders have expressed concern about the changes internally, while those who benefit from the service have called on the CPFT to rethink.
An NHS worker who used the service for about a year called it a “lifeline” and said: “I’m devastated, but mostly I’m worried. I’ve been blessed with the time and effort of the service.”
He praised the group, saying: “Without her, I wouldn’t have the skills to cope with life the way I do now. I can’t say enough how important this service is to me and my future as a nurse.”
The employee quit the service after a close colleague committed suicide.
“I developed the most unimaginable workplace anxiety, so my therapy focused on that for a while,” he said.
“The CPFT Staff Mental Health Service offers significant support to those working in the NHS, something we as staff struggle to access due to lack of availability and engagement, as we are such a profession.
“What this service offered me was so much more than therapy. It was a kind of support where I felt like my individual struggle was valid. A zero-judgement space that allowed me to really process my feelings, so I stopped taking it home with me – like so many of us.”
“CPFT’s staff mental health service brought me back to where I was as a professional and as a person – after one of the most tumultuous and unpredictable years of my life. They helped me to continue working in what is considered one of the most emotionally draining professions and to do it all at a time when my life outside of work was literally falling apart.”
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