Cambridgeshire mental health hub saved after more funding found

The future of a mental health hub which has helped thousands of health workers across Peterborough and Cambridgeshire since the COVID pandemic has been saved.

The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Staff Support Hub is one of 40 hubs in England launched in February 2021, in response to the trauma experienced by NHS and social care staff during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The British Psychological Society raised concerns this week that the future of the hub was in doubt.

Professor Tony Lavender, workforce and training lead for the British Psychological Society’s Division of Clinical Psychology, said:

“The hubs are needed now more than ever. Alongside colleagues across England, staff in Cambridgeshire are desperately in need of psychological support. They are have been managing terrible pressures, are exhausted and struggling to cope in a working environment that is harming their health.

“With a workforce under unprecedented strain, against the backdrop of a staff recruitment and retention crisis, patients are not getting the care and services they need and deserve.

“This is unacceptable for both staff and patients, and the government’s refusal to commit to funding the hubs is yet another blow to a workforce already on its knees.

"We urge local people who would like this service to continue in their area to write to their MP to raise their concerns.”

However, a spokesperson for Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Integrated Care System, who run the hub, said: “We are pleased to confirm that the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Staff Support Hub will continue to play its important role in supporting health and care staff.

"In 2022 alone well over 5,000 health and care workers attended Staff Support Hub events and webinars, with more than 850 people receiving one-to-one support. Of the people who used the Support Hub's Working Well service, more than 90% said they would now stay in the health and social care sector thanks to the support provided.

"Funding has now been secured to allow the Hub to continue to offer its valuable support to our amazing health and care teams."

Funding is now in place until March 2024. Work is ongoing to consider longer-term funding beyond March 2024.