BPS and BASW England join forces to highlight need for mental health support for social care staff
We joined BASW England to call on the government to invest in dedicated mental health and wellbeing support for social care and NHS staff, after funding for the NHS Mental Health and Wellbeing Hubs was cut in March 2023.
10 October 2023
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On World Mental Health Day 2023, we joined BASW England to call on the government to invest in dedicated mental health and wellbeing support for social care and NHS staff, after funding for the NHS Mental Health and Wellbeing Hubs was cut in March 2023.
Our recent research found that 114 councils in England lost more 500,000 working days to mental ill-health and stress among their social care staff last year, which is most likely the tip of the iceberg.
The wellbeing of our health and social care workforce should be a top priority for the government and the need for urgent action has never been starker.
With the NHS Workforce Plan placing responsibility for investment in staff mental health and wellbeing provision with integrated care systems from April 2024, local health and care leaders will make crucial decisions about their support services for staff, including the remaining hubs, in the next few months.
However, it's clear integrated care systems need more support from the government to provide the mental health services staff desperately need, if they are to address the recruitment and retention crisis engulfing the health and care sector.
That's why the BPS and BASW England have written to the Minister for Health and Social Care, Helen Whately MP.
Together, we're calling for:
- Monthly reporting of staff absences: Implement a robust system for monthly reporting of social care staff absences to identify common patterns and gain a comprehensive understanding of the reasons behind these absences.
- Long-term, ring-fenced funding of services: Allocate sustained, ring-fenced funding for dedicated mental health and wellbeing support for health and care staff. The closure of many NHS Mental Health and Wellbeing Hubs has left a significant void in mental health support for social care staff, leaving both them and the individuals they serve vulnerable.
Find out more about our campaign for mental health and wellbeing support for NHS and care staff.