Dr. Kirsten Woolley, RCGP Wellbeing Lead
A NEW mental health service specifically for health and social care professionals has been launched.
And a member of the Scottish Rural Medicine Collaborative’s programme board has been instrumental in helping to get the new service up and running.
Dr Kirsten Woolley, who serves on the programme board as the clinician lead for the Royal College of General Practitioners, has been involved in several projects which address various aspects of primary care work environments that can have a detrimental impact on practitioners’ health and wellbeing.
Now, she has seen one particular initiative on which she has been working come to fruition, with the announcement by Health Secretary Jeane Freeman on 26th February of the inauguration of the Workforce Specialist Service (WSS), designed to offer confidential mental health assessment and treatment to health and social care professionals.
The service will be delivered by experts with experience in treating issues such as stress, anxiety, depression or addiction, with a focus on the impact this may have on a person’s work.
It is the latest in a package of resources available to the workforce, including the National Wellbeing Hub, the National Wellbeing Helpline and specific psychological services provided by health boards at local level.
The Health Secretary said: “We know that some health and social care professionals can find it difficult to access mental health or addictions services due to concerns about receiving a confidential service or the professional implications of seeking support.
“The Workforce Specialist Service is the most comprehensive of its kind in the UK and has been established to ensure that people who access the service are afforded maximum confidentiality. We have worked closely with the professions regulators to ensure appropriate agreements are in place.”
Martine Scott, the Scottish Rural Medicine Collaborative’s programme manager, said: “Although this is not a specifically rural initiative it is most definitely another important tool in support of our aims of supporting the retention of general practitioners.
“The wellbeing of our health and care practitioners is of paramount importance and we wholeheartedly welcome this initiative.”
More information on the WSS, which is being delivered by NHS Practitioner Health, is available here.