The NHS is set to launch the South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw Health and Wellbeing Hub to support the mental health and wellbeing of more than 50,000 of its workers.
Staff will be offered a range of instant access services for free, including emotional and psychological support, which will be available around the clock, every day of the year, to all NHS employees in the Barnsley, Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster and Bassetlaw areas.
Services at the hub, which is one of 40 UK-wide centres set up by the NHS to manage the mental wellbeing of staff, will be provided by health and wellbeing and employee assistance programme provider Vivup.
The hub also offers employees access to Unmind – a mental health platform that empowers staff to proactively improve their mental wellbeing – as well as Headspace, a science-backed app around mindfulness and meditation, providing tools and resources to help reduce stress, build resilience, and aid better sleep.
Online resources freely available to staff on the hub include podcasts, videos, mental health support apps, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) workbooks and webinars, all led by experienced clinicians.
Michelle Horridge, public health registrar at Barnsley Council, said: “The South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw Health and Wellbeing Hub offers rapid access to evidence-based mental health services and support where needed as well as Trust Mental Health Champions, yoga and mindfulness sessions.”
Commenting on the announcement, Tracey Paxton, managing director, Vivup Employee Assistance Programme, said: “This past 12 months has been unprecedented for our NHS workers. They have experienced tremendous pressure on a daily basis, and many have suffered mental health issues as a result.”
She added: “We have worked alongside the NHS’s South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw region to custom-build their Resilience Hub and are delighted to currently be the only non-NHS provider to be awarded a staff mental health and wellbeing hub contract.”
Paxton added: “We will be delivering ongoing support to the hub’s communications team and encouraging all NHS staff whether they are a porter, a nurse, a paramedic, a doctor or any other role within the region to seek help and not suffer in silence.”