Andy's Man Club - a free peer-to-peer group that provides a place for men to come together in a safe and open environment to talk about the issues or problems that they have faced or are currently facing. See Andy's Man Club flyer
https://abcgrief.co.uk/about/ Bereavement Support for Adults Bereaved as Children (ABC) ABC Grief focuses on the nuances and complexity of unresolved childhood grief that is experienced by adults and the challenges that accompany this
https://thenbs.org/National Bereavement Service - A resource that supports & guides people through the practical elements of grief
Fertility, pregnancy loss or death of a baby support
The Fertility Network UK offer a wide range of resources and support related to fertility; whether you are trying to conceive, going through treatment or living without children Fertility Network (fertilitynetworkuk.org)
A list of the common experiences and dilemmas described by staff in a mental health and disability setting in the wake of the pandemic, and suggestions of what can help, written by Dr Steve Jefferis, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, CNTW Cognitive Analytic Therapy Service, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The Covid Struggles List
Financial Advice and Support
Durham Money Advice Centre
Durham Money Advice Centre (DMAC) is a face to face service offering free confidential help for anyone struggling with debt or managing their money. They offer advice on debt management, budgeting and benefits. They will even help fill in forms. Home visits are available.
NHS Wales have produced a series of best practice videos to support staff, with thanks to Dr Julie Highfield, National Wellbeing Project Director for the Intensive Care Society, for permission to share them here. View them here on the NHS Wales website.
Coronavirus Staff Resilience Hub – This hub offers frontline staff in the NHS and care services help to manage their wellbeing and is aimed at all frontline staff of health and care service.
New “Blue Light” mental health and wellbeing resource added to MindEd programme
A new resource to help “Blue Light” colleagues better support each other has been added to Health Education England elearning for healthcare (HEE elfh)’s MindEd programme.
Rates of distress and mental disorder in emergency services staff are known to be high. Collectively, “Blue Light” personnel and emergency responders have expressed a wish to be able to support each other better.
In response to this, Blue Light Services Building Staff Psychosocial Resilience and Wellbeing has been developed for professionals across all emergency services including ambulance, police, lifeboats, fire, search and rescue. The resource consists of 4 elearning sessions to help learners identify colleagues who are struggling and offer advice to better support one another and manage early distress.
The 4 sessions, which each take approximately 30 to 40 minutes to complete, cover the following topics:
Caring for Blue Light Teams - An Organisation-wide Approach
MindEd is a free educational and training resource for mental health support. The variety of free resources aims to provide adults, across professions and organisations and including parents and carers, with the knowledge to support wellbeing, the understanding to identify young and older people at risk of a mental health condition and the confidence to act on their concern and, if needed, signpost to services that can help.
Employee support services, including employee psychology support, Vivup and PAM assist, plus health and wellbeing page on staff intranet.
Mariposa and Papillon care home group
WPA, call 01823 625 278
Sanctuary care home group
Health Assured, call 0330 021 8754
MHA care home group
Care First, contact them through MPA.
North East and Cumbria Regional LMC
Available for all GP’s and practise managers in Gateshead, Newcastle, North Tyneside, Northumberland, South Tyneside, Sunderland and Teesside. Validium Group, call: 0800 970 9040
To speak to a counsellor or advisor please call 0333 400 0545 and quote reference number 79967. (The confidential telephone counselling and legal information service operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year).
Access up to 6 sessions of structured telephone, online or face to face counselling available.
South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust
EAP which provides a range of personal support service 24/7 including counselling, financial and legal advice – see staff intranet.
North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust
NT&H psychology – helpline – extension 22048 internal and 01429 522048 external For leads and managers for advice – bookable slots with qualified psychological professional – extension 22049 internal and 01429 522049 external
South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
IMPACT, call 01642 573924 or email enquiries@impactonteesside.com Occupational health, call 01642 282 482 Staff counselling service team – see Staff intranet Medical psychology (for all aspects related to wellbeing at work), call 01642 854 758 Personal resilience and effectiveness coaching, call 01642 282 872 Trinity Holistic Centre kindness, call 01642 854 839
North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust
Talk Works – email: talktous@talk-works.org.uk or call 0191 490 9301 Talk Works Occupational health team In house psychological service Help Hub via the intranet and access to a workplace app for use on mobile devices
The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Occupational Health Service: NUTH employees can access assessment for short-term Counselling, low–intensity CBT and psychology input, either via their manager or by confidential self-referral. Please contact OHS at newcastle.ohs@nhs.net to self-refer or for more information.
Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust
Occupational health department – access to 1:1 counselling and incident debriefing, call 0191 445 6162.
Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Northumbria Healthcare Staff Wellbeing Portal Occupational Health SPCS: Wansbeck General Hospital: 01670 529 213 (Ext. 33213) North Tyneside General Hospital: 0191 293 4373 (Ext. 4373)
North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust
Vivup – a confidential support and counselling service. It’s free and accessible 24 hours a day. They can give you advice and guidance on family difficulties, finances, bereavement, depression, stress and anxiety. Call 01252 784 540.
North Tyneside Talking Therapies – (Currently prioritising staff) – 0191 295 2775 – See page on Northumbria Healthcare website
Northumberland
Talking Matters Northumberland (Currently prioritise emergency services staff and have a label on IAPTUS to aid staff with this) – 0300 303 0700 – Talking Matters Northumberland website
Sunderland
Sunderland Psychological wellbeing service (currently prioritising staff) – 0191 566 5450 – See page on CNTW website
South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust – Gateshead talking therapies (prioritising all NHS staff, local authority staff, care home staff and teaching/school staff at present) – 0191 283 2541 – Gateshead Talking Therapies website
South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust- South Tyneside lifecycle primary care mental health service (prioritising all NHS staff, local authority staff, care home staff and teaching/school staff at present) – 0191 283 2937 – South Tyneside Lifecycle Mental Health website
Psychological therapies – Vale of York (TEWV) – York, Selby, Tadcaster or Easingwold – 01904 556 840 – see page on TEWV website
East Riding of Yorkshire
Everyturn Mental Health Talking Therapies – East Riding of Yorkshire – 0300 555 0250 – Everyturn website
Newcastle & Gateshead
Phone: 0191 814 8899
Freephone: 0800 652 2863
Text number for people who are deaf or have communication difficulties: 07919 228 548.
Sunderland & South Tyneside
Phone: 0303 123 1145
Freephone: 0800 652 2867
Text number for people who are deaf or have communication difficulties: 07889 036 280.
Northumberland & North Tyneside
Phone: 0303 123 1146
Freephone: 0800 652 2861
Text number for people who are deaf or have communication difficulties: 07887 625 277.
North Cumbria – East & West
Phone: 0300 123 9015
Freephone: 0800 652 2865
Text number for people who are deaf or have communication difficulties: 07795 656 226.
Tees, Esk and Wear Valley central
Freephone telephone number for all of area – 0800 0516 171. You will then be connected to local crisis service.
Many people have found themselves drinking more during the pandemic, however, it is more important than ever before to look after our mental wellbeing and physical health, and cutting back on alcohol can help us do that.
Regularly drinking alcohol affects the chemistry of the brain and can increase the risk of depression. Increased consumption can also affect our sleep, make us feel more tired and sluggish, and trap people in a cycle of feeling low and more anxious as well as increasing our risk of heart disease, stroke and cancer.
The Chief Medical Officer recommends that to keep health risks from alcohol to a low level it is safest not to drink more than 14 units a week on a regular basis – see how many units you drink here: Units explained – Reduce My Risk.
If you are concerned about how much you or someone you know drinks there’s lots of help out there. You can speak to your GP, find your local alcohol support service on www.meccgateway.co.uk/nenc/services/Alcohol or contact the confidential Drinkline Freephone on 0300 123 1110.
Drink Coach - Free confidential alcohol support for staff
The North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care System (NENC ICS) has launched an alcohol support service, available for all health and social care colleagues to access now.
The introduction of DrinkCoach enables all staff to access a completely confidential and simple-to-use platform, and makes use of the DrinkCoach Two Minute Test to evaluate and help you better understand your drinking and the associated risks, as well as access further support where needed.
DrinkCoach users can track the units, cost and calories of their drinking; create personalised plans to better manage intake and receive signposting to local support services.
Those who are identified as being at risk through the two-minute test will be able to access an online session with a DrinkCoach, and will be assisted with accessing suitable support. Amongst the support available is free access to a confidential 1:1 online coaching programme with qualified alcohol treatment specialists.
Guided by national policy and based on evidence of how best to prevent suicide and promote wellbeing and resilience, the aim of the North East and North Cumbria Suicide Prevention Network is to work together to take action to reduce suicide, so that fewer people die by suicide and we improve support for those affected. The Network’s key messages are:
Look after yourself – focusing on self-help support and broad mental health and wellbeing messages, we aim to help people to build resilience and to recognise when they may need more help and support.
Look out for others – we aim to help support people to have the confidence to be a listening ear for those around them, and to understand how everyone can play a part in suicide prevention.
Get help early – we aim to convey the message that suicide is preventable and that getting help early is key to ensuring more people access the support they need at the right time.
Visit the Network website www.stopsuicidenenc.org to access suicide and self-harm prevention resources and signposting to local and national sources of support for yourself or for others.
