Dear Colleague

Whilst I am conscious not to over-burden you with information at such a busy time, I thought it would be helpful to bring you up-to-date with progress on the work that the NHS Health at Work Network has been doing to support our occupational health community in recent weeks.

I know many of you have found our list of clinicians and OH providers who are offering support really useful.  This now consists of 267 occupational health clinicians and providers who are keen to offer their help to you if you need it!  Just make direct contact with them using the e-mails and phone numbers provided.

The Network has also been working closely with NHS England and NHS Improvement to identify additional capacity for NHS OH teams to access as and when you feel you need to.  You will be aware from my message last week that they have conducted a rapid OH procurement exercise from across the OH market place – tenders closed yesterday, and it is anticipated that the framework of providers will be available via the Network website before the end of next week.  This support is intended to not only help OH teams through the peak of the pandemic, but also to remain in place for the rest of the year to help you catch up with the backlog.   I will be making another announcement next week once this framework is live.

Over the past fortnight there has been rapid development of a support programme for NHS staff.  Dr. Anne de Bono (FOM President) and I were members of the expert reference group/task force which informed decision making on this by NHS England and NHS Improvement.  

As a result, all our NHS colleagues have access to a range of support (#OurNHSPeople Wellbeing Support): 

• A free wellbeing support helpline 0300 131 7000, available from 7.00 am – 11.00 pm seven days a week, providing confidential listening from trained professionals and specialist advice - including coaching, bereavement care, mental health and financial help 
• A 24/7 text alternative to the above helpline - simply text FRONTLINE to 85258
• Online peer to peer, team and personal resilience support, including through Silver Cloud, and free mindfulness apps including Unmind,  Headspace Sleepio and Daylight

I encourage NHS teams to take immediate advantage of these services.  They can be used in addition to the support available from your own NHS organisations and will develop further in the coming days and weeks in line with user feedback (nhsi.wellbeingc19@nhs.net)

Finally, we have been supported by NHS England and NHS Improvement to develop some helpful resources on our web pages to assist in sharing good practice, national guidelines, risk assessment templates, top tips and some Covid19 Case Studies.  Please do take a look at these, and use and adapt whichever resources may be helpful.  Please continue to share examples of your own local practise – the power of our Network is the willingness of us all to share and learn from each other.

If there is anything else you feel the Network can be doing to support you during this time, please do not  hesitate to contact me at chair@nhshealthatwork.co.uk

Thank you all for your incredible efforts - stay safe and well.

Dr Shriti Pattani

Chair, NHS Health at Work Network