Staff support services
Last updated: 29 June 2023 at 09:30
Staff Mental Health Hub
The Birmingham and Solihull (BSol) Staff Mental Health Hub is available for referrals for all health and care staff seeking help for the emotional and psychological impact of working during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This BSoL Staff Mental Health Hub will accept referrals directly from organisations for their staff and will offer the following:
- Rapid access to specialist psychological assessment
- Advice, consultation and onward referral where appropriate
- Advice for managers regarding concerns they have about a staff member
- Access to some evidence based brief interventions
The BSol Staff Mental Health Hub has been designed specifically to work alongside other pre-existing support services that have been established over the past year, and before making a referral it may be helpful to consider the following:
- Has the staff member been encouraged to access support available from within their organisation, such as psychological first aiders, Chaplaincy, Occupational Health or staff counselling where these exist, or staff safety and wellbeing support?
- Has the staff member contacted the 24/7 BSoL CCG Helpline delivered by the Living Well Consortium on 0121 262 3555?
- Is the staff member currently under the care of a secondary/specialist mental health service, or currently receiving treatment for a long term/enduring mental ill health condition – in this case, whilst the Staff Mental Health Hub may still be able to assist, a conversation may be useful prior to referral
Please note that the BSol Staff mental health hub will not be able to directly offer an alternative to secondary care mental health services or urgent/crisis intervention. If you are concerned about immediate risk you will need to contact the individual’s GP or consider seeking other emergency health care.
To refer yourself or someone else into the BSoL Staff Mental Health Hub please email us, labelling your email clearly for the Staff Mental Health Hub, and including name and contact details, and where possible some brief details as to the reason for the referral. If referring on behalf of someone else, please ensure you have consent to share their details with us.
Email: bsm-tr.referrals@nhs.net
Opening hours: Monday to Friday, 08:00–19:00
UHB Staff Counselling Service
Staff counselling service provides all Trust employees access to a free professional and structured counselling service.
It uses Solution Focused Brief Therapy which focuses on strengths and resources to re-enable coping strategies that may have fallen from use.
QEHB direct line
Tel: 0121 371 7170 (Monday to Friday, 08:30-16:30)
HGS direct line
Tel: 0121 424 7001 (Monday to Friday, 08:30-16:30)
At other times an answering service is available:
Email: StaffCounselling.Services@uhb.nhs.uk
Personalised helpline for Filipino staff
The confidential, free to access line is available 08:00–20:00, seven days a week along with a 24 hour text hotline.
Tagalog-speaking specialist counsellors and support workers will be on hand to support staff who have experienced bereavement, or who need to discuss anxiety or emotional issues experienced as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
No referral is necessary and call handlers will listen to Filipino staff and give psychological support to those in need.
Tel: 0300 303 1115 (08:00–20:00)
Text: Frontline 85258 (24 hours a day)
Chaplaincy
The Chaplaincy team are members of hospital staff, trained to provide a high standard of spiritual, religious and pastoral care.
There are Christian chaplains (Church of England, Free Church and Roman Catholic), Muslim, Sikh and Hindu chaplains.
They are employed to provide support for staff as well as patients and work closely with clinical teams on the wards.
Staff can contact Chaplaincy on:
Email: Chaplaincy@uhb.nhs.uk
Tel: 0121 371 4574 / 0121 371 4570
Mental health and wellbeing support for our BAME communities
We're pleased to announce that Liberate Meditation have partnered with the NHS to provide staff free access to their meditation and mindfulness app.
The app offers culturally sensitive and diverse meditations, curated for the BAME community, by the BAME community, aiming to reduce anxiety, alleviate stress and promote rest.
All NHS staff have access to this resource via the NHS People site:
Freedom to Speak Up Guardian
The Freedom to Speak Up Guardian has a key role in helping to raise the profile of concerns within the Trust and provide confidential advice and support to staff in relation to concerns they have, for example, about patient safety and/or the way their concern has been handled.
Firstyou
Firstyou offers a hand-picked collection of well-being resources for healthcare workers.
It's a simple way for you to find the best service for you, from quick ways to wind down after a long day at work to longer term support.
Frontline 19
Frontline 19 support services offers, free confidential and simple mental health support for all people working in the NHS.
Frontline 19 will match you with an experienced professional, work around your schedule, provide a space for you to offload and to be heard. Sessions can be held over Zoom, Skype, Facetime or mobile phone.
For more information visit:
Laura Hyde Foundation
The Laura Hyde Foundation is dedicated to focusing on mental health awareness and assistance for medical and emergency services workers.
LHF’s objective is to ensure that all medical and emergency services personnel have access to the best mental health support network available. They do this by signposting to the best mental health support available, offering wellbeing tips and advice about how we can care for each other.
A recent addition to their services it their work in conjunction with Project 5, where they offer; self help, helpline for counselling support and one to one couching and mentoring.
Samaritans
Whatever you're going through, call Samaritans free any time, from any phone, on 116 123.
A volunteer will answer and they will ask if they can help you.
Samaritans:
- will listen to you and talk through your worries, concerns and troubles
- give you space to be yourself and focus on your thoughts and feelings
- may ask questions to help you explore how you feel
- won’t tell you what you should do, and won’t make decisions for you
The advice or opinions of Samaritans are not important for the call. What's important is that you do call if you need to.
Condition Management Programme
If you are finding it difficult to manage your disability or long term health condition at work, the condition management can support with 12 free one-to-one sessions.
Contact Work-Being Support Agency to find out more:
Email: support@wbsa.uk
Practitioner Health
Practitioner Health offer mental health support for doctors and dentists, as well as offering mental health support and care to senior staff at bands 8d and above.
For more information, please see the links below:
- Practitioner Health: Accessing the service for doctors and dentists
- Practitioner Health: Accessing the service for NHS PH Workforce
Whilst Practitioner Health are not a crisis support line, they do provide a 24/7 crisis text service for the above staff which can be access by texting "NHSPH" to:
Tel: 85258
Maximus
The Access to Work Mental Health Support Service, delivered on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions, provides nine months of tailored mental health support to employees who are experiencing depression, anxiety or stress to help them stay in, or return to, the workplace, at no cost to the individual or employer.
Email: atw@maximusuk.co.uk
