Pharmacists granted access to the NHS mental health support line

An NHS mental health text message and hotline service will be made available to NHS workers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, staffed by trained volunteers and charities, including the Samaritans, Shout, and the Hospice UK. Pharmacy teams working across the NHS can now call the hotline or text in, for support in dealing with the significant pressures.

Chair of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society English Pharmacy Board, Claire Anderson, stated: “This is much welcomed and overdue news for pharmacy teams. Supporting the mental health and wellbeing of our frontline staff is needed more than ever before. Pharmacy teams are working flat out on the frontline to help patients during the pandemic and will now be able to get high-quality mental health and wellbeing support. Through our workforce wellbeing campaign, we’ve heard that pharmacists need much more help with their physical and mental health and overall wellbeing. As a result, we’ve been talking extensively to governments across the country and the NHS on how to better support pharmacy teams. Their wellbeing is more crucial than ever to the continued delivery of essential services in the fight against COVID-19. We know that prevention is better than cure so we will continue to fight to make sure the pressures on pharmacy teams are reduced. Pharmacists and their teams have risen to the challenge of COVID-19 and deserve the best support. In the longer term, they also need solutions to the problems that have caused such extensive mental health distress. A staggering eighty-four percent of pharmacists we surveyed last year told us they were at high risk of burnout and that was long before coronavirus hit. “We look forward to working with the Government, NHS, and key stakeholders to resolve some of those issues too.”

Chief Executive of NHS Employers, Danny Mortimer, stated: “As the pandemic continues, our people will face new and growing challenges on a daily basis and it’s, therefore, more important than ever that they are able to access resources to help them manage their wellbeing, in a way that suits their needs.”

The mental health hotline can be accessed every day from 7 am-11 pm and the text service is available 24 hours a day.
Telephone: 0300 131 7000
Text: FRONTLINE to 85258