NHS sets up mental health hubs for staff traumatised by Covid
February 22, 2021, 12:17 pm

NHS sets up mental health hubs for staff traumatised by Covid

A hospital ward. Almost half of doctors, nurses and other ICU staff have reported symptoms of PTSD, severe depression or anxiety

Denis CampbellForty hubs in England will field calls from frontline staff and contact those at higher risk directly

The NHS is setting up dozens of mental health hubs to help staff who have been left traumatised by treating Covid patients during the pandemic.

There is mounting concern that large numbers of frontline workers have experienced mental health problems such as anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder over the last year.

NHS personnel will be able to ring one of the 40 new hubs in England, receive advice and be referred for support from psychologists, mental health nurses, therapists and recovery workers.

Frontline workers who are struggling with their mental health will be encouraged to use the service, and hub staff will call workers deemed at highest risk directly to offer their help. Higher-risk groups are likely to include those who work in intensive care, on Covid wards and in A&E units.

Almost half of doctors, nurses and other ICU staff have reported symptoms of PTSD, severe depression or anxiety, according to research published last month. Of these, about 40% had probable PTSD – far higher than the rates seen among military veterans.

Sir Simon Stevens, NHS England’s chief executive, announced the hubs in an interview with the House magazine. They are being set up at locations across England including Bedfordshire, Lancashire and north-east London. A handful are already in operation.

The services are being modelled on the Greater Manchester Resilience Hub, set up to help NHS staff badly affected after helping victims and survivors of the Manchester Arena attack in May 2017. The hub has helped more than 4,200 health and social care staff, including during the pandemic.

A survey of 7,776 doctors in England, Wales and Northern Ireland by the British Medical Association last December found that 58% had some form of anxiety or depression and 46% said their mental health had worsened during the pandemic.

According to a recent poll by the Royal College of Physicians, 19% of hospital doctors have sought informal mental health support and 10% have asked for formal help from their employer or GP since last March.

NHS workers have talked about the emotional strain over the last year from caring for so many seriously ill people and seeing so many people die, in many cases alone because loved ones were not allowed to visit. Staff needing time off on mental health grounds are contributing to the high rates of staff sickness the NHS has seen recently.

Paul Farmer, chief executive of the mental health charity Mind, said: “We know how tough it’s been for so many frontline NHS staff over the last twelve months … These hubs are an important step forward at this crucial time to signal the support that is available now.”

Farmer said about 180,000 people working in frontline services, including NHS staff, had already sought help from a 24/7 support service for key workers called Our Frontline, which is led by Mind, Samaritans, Shout and Hospice UK.

Health unions are worried that the pandemic’s damage to staff’s mental health will prompt more to quit, and thus exacerbate the health service’s shortfall of around 85,000 workers. However, figures released last week showed big increases in the number of people applying to do a three-year nursing degree and those starting one, which has been called the “Nightingale effect”.

In other comments to the House, Stevens admitted he had been scared when the number of people hospitalised with Covid recently hit 33,000. The NHS found itself in “very alarming circumstances” last month when a third of all hospital beds contained Covid patients, he said.

Meanwhile, Labour has stepped up its criticism of the government’s plan to restructure the NHS in England. Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow health secretary, said the plan to abolish clinical commissioning groups and replace them with new integrated care systems was “perhaps better described as de-organising. Is this really an end to bureaucracy?”

He has criticised plans to give the health secretary more direct control over NHS England and its array of arm’s-length bodies.

“Just look at the scorecard,” Ashworth said. “Nightingales set up and the vaccination programme delivered by the NHS contact tracing, PPE to the frontline in the early phase, hotel quarantine and protecting care homes all controlled by this secretary of state,” he wrote in the House. NHS

source: Denis Campbell

Levant

Keep funding green homes to meet emissions target, say businesses British arms sales prolonging Saudi war in Yemen, says Oxfam

BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the company’s headquarters in the Seef District.
During the meeting, shareholders approved all items listed on the agenda, including the ratification of the minutes of the previous AGM held on 26 March 2024. The session reviewed and approved the Board’s Annual Report on the company’s activities and financial performance for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2024, and the shareholders expressed their satisfaction with the company’s operational and financial results during the reporting period.
The meeting also reviewed the Independent External Auditor’s Report on the company’s consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024. Subsequently, the shareholders approved the audited financial statements for the fiscal year. Based on the Board’s recommendation, the shareholders approved the distribution of a cash dividend equivalent to 10% of the paid-up share capital.
Furthermore, the shareholders endorsed the allocation of a total amount of BD 172,500 as remuneration to the members of the Board for the year ended 31 December 2024, subject to prior clearance by related authorities.
The extension of the current composition of the Board was approved, which includes ten members and one CBB observer, for a further six-month term, expiring in September 2025, pending no objection from the CBB.
The meeting reviewed and approved the Corporate Governance Report for 2024, which affirmed the company’s full compliance with the corporate governance directives issued by the CBB and other applicable regulatory frameworks. The AGM absolved the Board Members of liability for any of their actions during the year ending on 31st December 2024, in accordance with the Commercial Companies Law.
In alignment with regulatory requirements, the session approved the reappointment of Ernst & Young (EY) as the company’s External Auditors for the fiscal year 2025, covering both the parent company and its subsidiaries—Sinnad and Bahrain FinTech Bay. The Board was authorised to determine the external auditors’ professional fees, subject to approval from the CBB, and the meeting concluded with a discussion of any additional issues as per Article (207) of the Commercial Companies Law.
Speaking on the company’s performance, Mr. Mohamed Al Bastaki, Chairman BENEFIT , stated: “In terms of the financial results for 2024, I am pleased to say that the year gone by has also been proved to be a success in delivering tangible results. Growth rate for 2024 was 19 per cent. Revenue for the year was BD 17 M (US$ 45.3 Million) and net profit was 2 Million ($ 5.3 Million).

Mr. Al Bastaki also announced that the Board had formally adopted a new three-year strategic roadmap to commence in 2025. The strategy encompasses a phased international expansion, optimisation of internal operations, enhanced revenue diversification, long-term sustainability initiatives, and the advancement of innovation and digital transformation initiatives across all service lines.
“I extend my sincere appreciation to the CBB for its continued support of BENEFIT and its pivotal role in fostering a stable and progressive regulatory environment for the Kingdom’s banking and financial sector—an environment that has significantly reinforced Bahrain’s standing as a leading financial hub in the region,” said Mr. Al Bastaki. “I would also like to thank our partner banks and valued customers for their trust, and our shareholders for their ongoing encouragement. The achievements of 2024 set a strong precedent, and I am confident they will serve as a foundation for yet another successful and impactful year ahead.”
Chief Executive of BENEFIT; Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi commented, “The year 2024 represented another pivotal chapter in BENEFIT ’s evolution. We achieved substantial progress in advancing our digital strategy across multiple sectors, while reinforcing our long-term commitment to the development of Bahrain’s financial services and payments landscape. Throughout the year, we remained firmly aligned with our objective of delivering measurable value to our shareholders, strategic partners, and customers. At the same time, we continued to play an active role in enabling Bahrain’s digital economy by introducing innovative solutions and service enhancements that directly address market needs and future opportunities.”
Mr. AlJanahi affirmed that BENEFIT has successfully developed a robust and well-integrated payment network that connects individuals and businesses across Bahrain, accelerating the adoption of emerging technologies in the banking and financial services sector and reinforcing Bahrain’s position as a growing fintech hub, and added, “Our achievements of the past year reflect a long-term vision to establish a resilient electronic payment infrastructure that supports the Kingdom’s digital economy. Key developments in 2024 included the implementation of central authentication for open banking via BENEFIT Pay”
Mr. AlJanahi concluded by thanking the Board for its strategic direction, the company’s staff for their continued dedication, and the Central Bank of Bahrain, member banks, and shareholders for their valuable partnership and confidence in the company’s long-term vision.