A grant from NHS Charities Together together with monies raised locally has provided the funding needed to increase the range and depth of mental health support at Kingston Hospital in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This crisis has created significant additional stress for Kingston Hospital staff which ranges from those with underlying health conditions being shielded at home very worried about returning to work, through to those who are working in frontline clinical roles who have been at work throughout the current crisis, but who are dealing with stress and trauma because of the critical patient issues they have had to deal with. Approximately 40% of the hospital workforce is from black, Asian and minority ethnic groups (BAME) and as well as providing support for their physical healthcare, it’s important that their psychological needs are also addressed, as COVID-19 has had a disproportionately negative effect on this community.

Charitable funding is providing additional administrative resource to the health & wellbeing team to support mental health interventions in a systematic and organised way. It’s also funding an Assistant Staff Chaplain to meet the significantly increased workload of the Staff Chaplain, who is responsible for delivering spiritual and mental health wellbeing, supported by a range of informal practitioner support. A Clinical Psychologist has also been appointed where more serious interventions and support is required to staff who are suffering with stress and trauma related illnesses.

We’d like to thank NHS Charities Together and all who have donated locally for their support of this programme.